In Our Dreams
by FalconLux
Summary: After saving Snape's life but unable to revive him from a coma, Hermione is plagued by guilt for not doing more. Three years of obsessive devotion to her cause eventually pays off, but what is she to do next? How will these two continue to shape each other's lives? Better summary inside and details on rating as well as a good story... COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**FYI: **I know that the picture isn't great, but I'm not a great artist, so deal with it.

**Story Summary:** After saving Severus Snape's life in the final battle, but being unable to bring him out of a prolonged coma, Hermione finds herself plagued with guilt for not being able to do more. Three difficult years of nearly obsessive devotion to her goal of reviving Severus hardens Hermione and isolates her. After devoting so much of herself to a single goal, what is Hermione to do when she at last succeeds? How will these two continue to shape each other's lives?

**Author's Note:** This story is mostly canon, set after the culmination of the books, obviously ignoring the epilogue. A few little bits, particularly involving the end of the war, have been tweaked allowing Severus to be alive. There may be a few other minor tweaks. Hopefully all are adequately explained as we go. Feel free to call me on it if I've failed to do so and I will attempt to explain myself. Of course, I am not J. K. Rowling and therefore may occasionally make a mistake regarding a detail here and there. I assure you that I have read all of the books and do not consider myself a dunderhead. I do my best.

This story will be largely from the perspectives of Hermione and Severus, though I reserve license to dip into another head should it suit the plot.

Cheers, if you're still reading my intro. I am going to post the first couple of chapters to begin with just to be sure that your appetites are thoroughly whetted. After that, I will try to post a chapter every day or so, at least to begin with. Thus far the plot has been flowing easily for me, but it is, at this point, vague concerning future chapters. If I encounter difficulties in that area later, I may not be able to post as often, but I will persevere and try to get you at least one chapter each week. I'm not certain on the eventual length yet, but I'm certain that it will be 50,000+ words since I have already written more than half of that.

As a final note, I wanted to mention that I will attempt to avoid bashing on the primary canon characters as much as possible. Yes, even Ron.

**Rated M for language, violence, adult themes, and tasteful(ish) smut in later chapters. Consider yourself warned.**

****Disclaimer: **As stated above, I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

**Hermione – 3 May 2001-Thursday**

Hermione sat next to Severus Snape's hospital bed at St. Mungo's, staring at the stubborn wizard's unconscious form. She was trying hard to concentrate, but she was beyond tired and her head was beginning to ache quite acutely.

Yesterday had been Liberation Day, the third anniversary of Voldemort's demise. It also marked the last day Severus had been conscious as well as the date by which she had promised herself to have him conscious once more. Granted, she'd originally made that promise to herself for six months after the final battle at Hogwarts. Then for the first Liberation Day, and then for the second. She'd really had her hopes up this time though. She was so close.

She was so exhausted that she didn't even realize that she was dozing off until she found herself in The Nightmare. It was the same one that she'd had every night for three years. It didn't take her by surprise anymore, and she was almost always aware of the fact that it wasn't real. Somehow that made it not one bit easier to see it happen again.

Nagini hovering in the air in her enchanted cage. Severus attempting to appease Voldemort as the man grew nearer and nearer to murderous violence… Then Voldemort laying out plainly his intention to kill Severus. All the while, Hermione sat silently and did nothing. Then the snake's enchanted cage enveloped Severus and Voldemort hissed in Parseltongue. The terrible scream as the snake struck. The awful amount of blood as Severus fell to the floor.

And Hermione did nothing.

When at last Voldemort left the dying man on the floor, she entered the room, Harry and Ron with her. And then Snape had given what he meant to be his dying gift to Harry Potter, the boy he hated. It was a gift of knowledge – far more valuable than any other could be. The gift of his memories. Hermione hadn't actually cried at the time, but she was sobbing now – screaming inside her head to do something, do it now, before it was too late. Of course, she did not. The nightmares did not work that way. She couldn't change anything. Only watch it happen in the same wrong way over and over and over again.

When Harry and Ron had started back through the tunnel out of the shrieking shack, Hermione had hesitated, and then she had done something impulsive. With a pair of potions and a fairly simple spell, she'd healed Severus Snape. He hadn't woken and she'd had neither time nor particular inclination to stick around and see if he would. She still hadn't been completely sure that he was on the side of good as Dumbledore had insisted right to his final moments from what Harry had relayed.

She'd come back later and what would be her personal waking nightmare for the next three years had begun when she'd discovered that she had saved his life, but not given it back to him.

She woke from the nightmare with a gasp, which was a vast improvement over the screams and sobs that had graced the first year of getting this nightmare. She rubbed her dry eyes and stretched her aching neck. She'd fallen asleep slouched in a chair.

Eager to get her blood pumping again, she got up and began to pace the small, private room in which Severus now resided. She struggled to orient her mind once more on the problem at hand. She was so close now that she could almost taste it. She shot a vehement glare at her one-time potions professor. Even dead to the world for three years, the man still managed to hang onto his stupid Occlumency shields, preventing her from entering his mind.

Years of rigorous study and sleepless nights had borne fruit a little less than a month ago. She had done what many had told her was impossible. She had healed Severus' body where Nagini's venom had destroyed so many of his nerves as to leave his mind and body unable to connect properly. Even had he been able to awaken, he'd never have been able to move much in that state. She had done it though. She'd traveled the world, conversed with every notable potion maker alive, some of which had been of the most disreputable sort while others had been so highly placed that it had taken Harry making a public scene to gain her admittance to even speak with them.

She'd suffered burns and broken bones as a result of exploding caldrons, had been nearly murdered by giants when she'd gone into their mountains in search of the right ingredients for her potion, and there was one particular forest which she would never venture into again lest an angry Centaur herd make good on their threat to read the future in her entrails. She'd made some friends, but many more enemies and she'd suffered a great deal, but she had done it. All that remained now was to get into his blasted mind and help him to find his way out again.

The crystal clear mental picture of those precious memories leaking out of him in what might have been his last moments flashed through Hermione's mind and she ground her teeth hard, ignoring the tiny voice in the back of her head admonishing her for damaging her teeth.

"Insufferable man!" she spat at Severus. While she knew, intellectually, that he could hardly be blamed for instinctively protecting his mind, she was much keener on embracing even irrational emotions these days. A side effect of so little sleep, she suspected.

"Do you intend to lecture him awake?" came a very dry inquiry from the door.

Hermione chuckled ruefully as she turned to face the woman who'd kept her sane these past years. "It might be satisfying to give it a try, Minerva."

The older witch smiled gently, moving to Serverus' bedside and wrapping on of his hands in both of her. "If he remembers any of this when he wakes, I imagine he'll likely find your voice quite abrasive. How many hours have you spent in this room yelling at the man?"

"Too many," Hermione admitted with half a smile. She loved it that Minerva always seemed to consider it a foregone conclusion that it was only a matter of time before Hermione succeeded. "I've practically lived in this room this last month. I thought creating the potion was difficult, but I hadn't really thought through the idea of using Legilimency on the man who managed to successfully hide his true allegiance from Voldemort for years. It shall be a miracle if I ever make it through his shields."

Minerva seemed to consider it for a moment, then shook her head. "You're right. The man is a stubborn arse."

Hermione huffed a surprised laugh at the statement, which is surely what Minerva had intended. If not for her old mentor's visits, Hermione knew that she would not be nearly so far. Apart from the help she'd given in steering Hermione toward the sources she needed, she could also be depended upon to show up when Hermione was in most danger of foregoing food and sleep. She knew that she couldn't function as well without eating and sleeping, but perspective was sometimes difficult to properly retain when she felt like she was making progress.

"What a nightmare, Severus," Minerva said quietly.

…and suddenly it clicked. It took a moment for Hermione to remember to breathe as her mind suddenly leapt into action, running through the possibilities that had just occurred to her.

"Oh, Minerva, you're a genius!" Hermione cried, hugging the older witch so enthusiastically as to nearly send her to the floor.

"Well, thank you, Hermione. May I ask what secret of the realms I have unintentionally unlocked this time?"

"I think…" Hermione considered it, then nodded with greater conviction. "Yeah, I know what to do."

"Then I suppose I shall have to leave you to it," she vaguely heard Minerva mutter on her way out the door.

Hermione didn't pay much attention to Minerva's exit. Her mind was on too many other things at the moment.

Near to giggling with excitement at this most recent revelation, Hermione first warded the door against intrusion so that she would not be interrupted. Then she pulled her chair right up to the bed and sat down. One hand, she wrapped around Severus' hand. The other, she placed over his forehead. Then she closed her eyes and spoke the words of the spell that had just occurred to her. "_Legilimens penetros_."

With standard Legilimens, she had felt her mind touch his shield, and had tried to search her way along it for any kind of weak point in the defenses, but she had found none. Using this new spell, she didn't touch his shield, she slammed into it with the force of a battering ram. The small part of her mind still keeping tabs on her body felt Severus jerk beneath her hands. She knew how painful it was to have someone enter your mind by force, but she also knew that she could not hold back for fear that he might be feeling the pain she was inflicting. She was sure that he'd rather endure torture and get his life back than to peacefully sleep until his body expired. At least, he'd feel that way eventually.

It didn't take her long to discover that even this spell wouldn't be penetrating his defenses through blunt force. It absolutely astonished her that he had this kind of strength to his mental defenses on his best day, much less under the current circumstance.

"Severus, let me in!" she cried in desperation. This spell, unlike the original, was beginning to tire her. She wouldn't be able to sit here searching for hours as she had done on multiple occasions with the other.

Surprisingly, almost immediately after speaking, she found exactly what she needed. It was by no means a hole in his defenses, but it was perhaps a crack. That was all that she needed. She threw all of her focus against that crack, seeking to enter it carefully rather than trying to force it wider. She guessed that a man like Severus would instinctively respond to that kind of attack by discovering and reinforcing his small weakness.

So with great care and less effort than she'd expected, she slid in through his defenses. That was only the first layer of his shields, but she was encouraged when she soon found a similar crack in his second wall, and then another in his third. It was absolutely staggering to discover that he had a total of ten walls constructed around his mind, each protecting secrets more highly guarded than the last.

She really did try not to look at the memories around her. First, because it was an unnecessary invasion of his privacy for her purposes. Second because she was absolutely certain that Severus Snape possessed some memories from his time with Voldemort that she _really _didn't want to see. Still, she couldn't help but glimpse a few. As she went, she began to notice an interesting trend. Based on the organization of the increasingly guarded secrets, it was still set up to keep Voldemort and other Death Eaters from discovering that he was a spy. It may have simply been old habit, but Hermione felt confident that it was proof that these defenses remained from before his coma. He had not been conscious enough to rearrange or otherwise modify his defenses since the night he had nearly died. It was an interesting nugget of information, but not something immediately pertinent, so she dismissed it for the moment.

She found herself entirely astonished when she reached the last wall. Had she been merely intent on searching his memories, she was virtually convinced that she'd have never discovered that a tenth wall even existed. She found herself humbled by his Occlumency skill. Truth be told, she was only just more than fair when it came to protecting her mind. She was, however, extremely good at invading the minds of others when it was necessary. She'd never have completed the potion if she hadn't become very good at that particular skill. Not all of her sources had willingly given up their information to her.

The crack in the last barrier was similar to those before once she located it, but it nearly closed up on her while she tried to slither her way inside. It must have been an extremely powerful instinct for him to protect this particular layer.

Once inside, she rushed through, doing her best to see absolutely nothing. For the most part, it worked. She glimpsed a tiny flash here and there, but she didn't examine it in enough detail to learn the meaning of any of it.

And then she reached her destination – for which she'd used this particular spell. She didn't merely need his memories. She needed to enter his subconscious if she was going to find and extract Severus from the prison of his own mind. That's the idea that Minerva had given her by mentioning nightmares while speaking to Severus.

It was extremely disorienting when she slipped inside and found herself back in her old nightmare. Only this time was subtly different. She was seeing it now from Severus' perspective. This was his nightmare, virtually identical to her own. Severus stood before Voldemort within the shrieking shack, Nagini magically suspended in the center of the room. It seemed almost to glow for how furious was his focus upon that snake in its magic cage.

Voldemort somehow managed to look even more terrifying than he did in Hermione's own nightmares. Probably because Severus knew him better than she did, she reasoned. He had even more reason to fear him.

It was extremely difficult to tear her focus from Voldemort and Nagini, as though this nightmare absolutely demanded that those things be the focus. She managed it though, and turned to look at Severus.

The instant that her focus touched his eyes, those penetrating black orbs snapped over to hers. He was aware of her, she was relieved to find. This would have been much more difficult had he not been.

"No," Severus breathed in horror, his eyes flashing to Voldemort.

Hermione didn't understand what he meant until he verily flew around her to put himself between Voldemort and her, his attention now on the Dark Lord once more.

He was aware of her, she mentally corrected, but not that she wasn't a part of this nightmare – of what he perceived to be happening now. Despite the fact that she knew she was in no real danger here, certainly not from the phantom of Voldemort, part of her felt the impact of Severus Snape, career spy, exposing himself to protect her. On one level, she was deeply touched, and a little confused. She hadn't thought that he'd liked her. At all. On another level, she was humiliated and stricken with guilt to see him offering up his life to protect her. She had not done as much for him.

"Severus," she said gently.

"Quiet, girl!" he snapped almost frantically as the nightmare around them began to shift with his perception of events. Voldemort was reacting to Severus' protecting her.

And suddenly, this was many times more frightening than it had been. She could have quoted every single line of that old nightmare with hardly a thought. Seeing it evolve in an unexpected way made it new and reminded her far too much of when this sort of nightmare had in fact been a part of her everyday life.

It took her a long moment, and every scrap of courage she possessed to ignore the nightmare around her, but she managed it.

She grabbed Severus by the arm, yanking him around too quickly for him to even put up a fight. In less than a second, she had his back against the wall while she leaned into his chest with all the strength she could muster.

Severus just looked panicked, still looking over her shoulder, his gaze alternating between Voldemort and Nagini.

"Severus!" she shouted in his face despite the discrepancy in their height.

She didn't know if it was her tone or her use of his given name, but she got his attention.

He blinked at her in surprise.

She moderated her tone, still fighting a tingling in her spine at having the specter of Voldemort at her back while he was evidently raging. "This is a dream," she said, looking right into Severus' eyes and speaking very firmly and distinctly. "You are trapped in your mind." She was thanking God at that moment that Severus was such a skilled wizard when it came to the mind. She could already see in his eyes that he was understanding her.

"I can take you out of here," she continued.

Considering that she was already in his mind, looking into his eyes was making it very easy for her to understand the direction of his thoughts. Right now, she was sensing that he was hesitant to believe. Just a moment ago, he'd been certain that he was about to die. What she was saying seemed to him too good to be true.

"Do you trust me?" she asked severely. She wasn't sure why she chose that question. The moment it was out of her mouth, it sounded ridiculous. The man had no reason to trust her considering that he had no knowledge of the last three years. She didn't recant it though, based on what she was reading in his eyes.

After a long moment and one tiny glance toward Voldemort, he nodded.

"Then come with me," she said quietly, the sound of the nightmare already fading around them.

Severus wrapped his hand around hers and slowly closed his eyes.

That was all that she needed. Without hesitation, she began to back out of his mind. It was not nearly so difficult to navigate the shields from this side. They were built to hold intruders out, not in.

With her grip still firm, she felt them slip beyond the last shield and then…

Her eyes snapped open and she swayed as a wave of disorienting dizziness rolled through her as her mind retreated fully back into her own body. She'd never gone half so deeply into another's mind before. It was at once exhilarating and terrifying.

As her sensibilities began to settle, she leapt out of her chair to see to her patient. She was absolutely breathless when she saw his eyelids flicker and few times and then open, just a slit at first, and then a little wider.

Those black eyes traveled around the room, taking it in, and then settled on her. They narrowed again. "Miss Granger? What happened to me?"

Hermione knew that he was going to hate this question, but she had to have the answer, so she asked it anyway. "What is the last thing you remember?"

He glared at her in the way that used to quell her most rebellious moment quite effectively. When she merely raised an eyebrow at him, he frowned a little and then looked like he was thinking hard.

She knew the moment that he remembered because he suddenly looked nauseous and he automatically reached to his throat where the scars from Nagini's bite remained.

She didn't wait for him to say anything. "That's good," she nodded.

"How am I alive?" he asked, his voice grating a little from disuse but the regular healing spells and her potion had kept his body in a condition very close to where it had been three years ago before his injury.

"You received healing very shortly after losing consciousness," she explained, having no desire to mention that she'd been the one to do it. He'd probably be horrified to think of a witch who hadn't even made it through Hogwarts casting such spells on him.

"I assume that he is dead," he said with something akin to his old drawl.

"Voldemort is dead, killed on the very night you were hurt," she confirmed, for there could be only one "he" relevant in this context.

Severus sighed softly in relief. "I'd like to speak with a healer," he admitted, somewhat more politely than she was accustomed to. She assumed that he'd be snide and sarcastic again once he'd had a chance to get his bearings.

"As it happens, _I_ am your healer," she admitted somewhat sheepishly.

Severus' eyes narrowed for a moment. He looked exactly like he was about to take house points for a smartass comment. Then he studied her more carefully from the top of her head down to her waist, which was as much of her as was visible next to the bed. Slowly, his eyes widened again. "How long have I been here?"

"Three years, Severus," she said quietly, a war of pain and self-recrimination raging in her head at having taken so long.

Her use of his given name seemed to shock him, so she assumed that he remembered nothing of her little jaunt into his mind. That was just as well. She could only imagine what he would think of her knowing that she'd gone running around amongst his most private secrets. It seemed unlikely that he'd ever believe she'd truly done her best to look at none of them.

He didn't call her down for addressing him in that way, which she took to mean that he had much larger concerns at the moment. "It seems I have missed much, Miss Granger," he said, though it sounded like he was talking to himself. Something else seemed to occur to him then and he returned his eyes to hers. She felt the slightest brush of his mind against hers as he attempted to employ Legilimency against her.

She didn't think that he'd get through her defenses without a serious effort, but remembering the fortress that was his mind, she wasn't ready to put it past him. Still, she bravely held his gaze.

"I am due for a trip to Azkaban, then?"

"No," she said, shocked at the question, though she shouldn't have been. He'd been a hero for three years, but last he recalled, he'd been considered the most heinous traitor, Dumbledore's murderer. "A trial was held shortly after the end of the war," she explained. "You were cleared of all charges and proven to have been acting against Voldemort throughout the course of the war. You're, ah…" she grimaced slightly, having some idea what he'd think of the next part. "You're a hero to the wizarding world, Severus."

He stared at her a moment more, then groaned softly. "Bloody fantastic," he muttered to himself.

She couldn't help but smile at seeing exactly the reaction she'd expected.

His eyes narrowed at her smile.

"I'd better alert Minerva of your recovery," she smiled, changing the subject quickly. Producing her want from her sleeve, her smile widened a bit as she selected her happy memory. It was this very moment. "Expecto patronum," she said quietly. With a burst of light, the little otter patronus leapt from her wand, brighter and more vibrant than she had seen it since… Maybe ever."

With another flick of her wand, she sent it off with a message.

When she looked at Severus again, she found that he was studying her. "It seems you've grown into your talent, Miss Granger," he noted with something bordering on respect in his voice.

Hermione blushed, and though she rather wished she hadn't, it felt good. She hadn't had much call to blush in some time. "You must have a million questions," Hermione offered. "I'll answer as many as I can."

He considered the offer with evident suspicion, but he seemed to be thinking about it. After some apparent internal debate, he asked, "Did Harry Potter survive?"

"He did," Hermione smiled. "Incidentally, he'll be thrilled to hear that you're awake. He's visited you once a week, every week for three years without fail."

Severus frowned. He didn't look pleased to hear that.

"Did you see the memories I gave to him?" he asked, looking toward the window rather than at her face.

"I did," she admitted. "Unfortunately, I'd hazard that most of wizarding Britain has heard the story of your actions in the war, and… some of the motivations."

He was starting to look a little sick again. His expression changed abruptly as something else must have occurred to him. "Why was I unconscious for three years?"

Hermione sighed and slid her chair against the wall with a flick of her wand before she took a few steps away from the bed to lean against the broad windowsill. "Nagini," she admitted. "Her venom… It almost destroyed you. If…" she swallowed hard, remembering more than she wanted to. "If you'd been healed a few seconds later, it would have been too late. Half a minute sooner, and enough of her venom would have remained in your body that the result would have been the same."

Severus thought about that for a moment. "It took three years to heal me?" he inquired.

"It took three years to find the means with which to heal you," she corrected. "An entirely new potion had to be designed to counteract the rare venom's damage. The potion used to heal Arthor Weasley proved to be utterly ineffective. Voldemort's work it seems. Her venom had been modified simply to make it more deadly and less curable."

"I'm surprised they went to the trouble," he mumbled to himself.

The sound of brisk footsteps outside the door prompted Hermione to disable her wards with a flick of her wand just a moment before Minerva strode inside. She stopped dead when she saw Severus looking at her. Her hand flew to her heart and she paled.

For all the support she'd given Hermione over the years, it was clear that she hadn't expected such a result this quickly.

"Merlin's beard, Severus," she gasped, then almost leapt onto the bed in her haste to hug him.

Hermione fought to swallow her laugh at the absolute shock Severus portrayed.

"Oh for pity's sake," Minerva griped as she drew herself away from him. "You've been comatose for three years! Do excuse me if I show a bit of enthusiasm to see you alive!"

Severus' lip twitched and Hermione thought he was actually fighting a smile. For some reason, that alarmed her a little. She'd never seen Severus smile or even look in danger of it.

"Oh sure," Minerva continued to rant, "No doubt it's hilarious for you. You had the luxury to sleep through the whole ordeal!"

That last bit served to sober him again and Minerva had the grace to look a little chagrined at her choice of words.

"How is he, Hermione?"

Hermione caught a brief expression of surprise flash across his face for some reason, but she chose to ignore it for the moment. "I've not yet had a chance to cast any diagnostics," she admitted, "but his mind seems clear and I would say the risk is high that his personality will return entirely intact," she smiled.

Minerva snorted her amusement. "Well, I'm sure we'll all grow to dread it soon enough, but in the meantime, expect visitors, Severus. There are a lot of people that have been waiting to apologize to you."

"That will have to wait," Hermione put in quickly and glanced at Severus to see the expected relief in his eyes. "He'll need time to reacclimatize a bit more before I'll allow visitors."

"Ah, just as well," Minerva sighed. "I'll go and spread the happy news. And perhaps you're not quite ready to make a decision, Severus, but your job as potions master is waiting for you at Hogwarts if you still want it. There have been three replacements in three years. None have been up to the job."

Severus nodded noncommittally.

Before leaving, Minerva took a moment to wrap Hermione in a hug and whispered in her ear, "I always knew you could do it, girl, but even I had not expected it this soon. You truly are the brightest witch of your age."

"Or at least the most stubborn," Hermione huffed in reply.

"Well, you'll have competition for the title now," she added with a glance at Severus, then she turned and left with a grin firmly stuck on her lips.

Hermione shook her head after Minerva and turned her attention back to Severus. "Okay, I need to cast a few diagnostics. If everything looks good, then I'll see about getting you something to eat. I'm sure you're starving."

Severus frowned at her, "Still the insufferable know-it-all, I see," but his tone was not cruel.

Hermione grinned. It would take much more than Severus' snide comments to dampen her mood today. In fact, she rather appreciated them at the moment, because it served as another reminder that she had accomplished the impossible. Severus Snape was back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I meant to post this chapter this morning, but I slept in instead. There are quite a few perspective changes in this chapter. Hopefully you don't get whiplash.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

* * *

**Severus – 6 May 2001-Sunday**

Three days after waking up, Severus was on his way out of St. Mungo's and back into Hogwarts. He wasn't entirely sure if he really wanted to keep teaching, but he had no idea what else to do at the moment. He'd advised Minerva that he would come back for one year and then decide if he wanted to stay any longer. Seven weeks of classes remained for the year. While Severus' current replacement was going to finish out the year, he was moving back into his old rooms where he would focus on brewing extra potions for Poppy and the other professors as needed.

The three days that he'd spent conscious at St. Mungo's had not been as bad as they might have, thanks, of all people, to Hermione Granger. She had strenuously forbid him any visitor apart from Minerva. She had explained to everyone, including him, that the increased stress of numerous reunions could have a negative effect on his health. He didn't think that she was actually trying that hard to disguise the fact that she was sparing him the indignity of the stream of visitors that evidently wanted to wish him well and possibly apologize for doubting him before Voldemort's fall. He just found himself rather glad that she evidently had the authority to do that without a particularly impressive explanation.

Of all the surprises that he discovered on an hourly basis over those three days, Miss Granger was likely the one that interested him most. Three years had changed her more than he would have thought possible. He remembered her as, well the insufferable know-it-all, of course, but also as overly enthusiastic to a fault whenever it came to academics. She had been brave, as a Gryffindor ought, but she'd been a child in many important ways that had nothing to do with her body.

Now… Now she was most certainly a woman. She'd grown into her intellect, it seemed, using it much more methodically than he'd ever seen before, and she had power to match, which was quite impressive by itself. She was a witch that he would not hasten to anger, and that was saying a very great deal.

At first, her insistence on calling him by his given name had been annoying considering that he remembered far too clearly when she'd been his student. Surprisingly, he'd grown accustomed to it in a very short time and hardly noticed it by the time he was ready to leave.

She had also grown even more incorrigible, if that were entirely possible. It seemed impossible for him to intimidate her, even with his most ominous glares. Perhaps that was a result of spending so much time as his healer.

He couldn't help but recall one particular conversation that had greatly impacted his opinion of the girl.

_"I would like to see the recipe for this potion that you say saved my life," the drawled on the second morning just after he'd finished what passed for breakfast at St. Mungo's._

_Granger had conjured it onto a piece of parchment from memory._

_Severus read through it three times in amazement. It was one of the most complex potions that he had ever seen, containing ingredients that were incredibly rare and volatile, combined in a way that was pure genius if it actually worked as she said. "Who created this?" he asked, very impressed though he was careful to keep it from his tone._

_"I did," Granger replied without looking up from where she was scribbling on a long piece of parchment._

_Severus stared at her profile for a long moment, trying to decide if she was lying. It seemed unlikely unless she was doing it merely to get a rise out of him. Despite the fact that she didn't seem to fear him anymore, he didn't think it was in her character to do something like that. "How?" he demanded, allowing his tone to convey that he was neither particularly believing nor disbelieving her assertion. He expected that her answer would clear that up for him._

_She finished the line she was writing, then put down her quill and lifted her face to look at him with a sigh. "Three years, Severus," she frowned. "A lot of research, a lot of experiments, and three years. That's how I did it," she informed him, her tone and expression borderline hostile. It was an expression that he had never seen on her before._

_Severus found himself studying the parchment again. "It's impressive," he finally admitted, since any idiot could see that._

_She stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, then picked up her quill and returned her attention to what she was writing._

_Severus couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the vast underestimation. No matter how much help she had had, creating this potion was an astounding feat. She'd always been good in his class – the best in his class for her year actually – but that held true for all of her classes. He'd never have guessed that she had not only the academic ability to exceed with potions lessons but the necessary aptitude to put together something like this. _

_There was also the small matter of the "three years" that she had stressed. To complete this potion in three years, she must have done little else during that time. She'd put a very surprising amount of effort into reviving him._

_"Do you regret it?" he asked, looking out the window rather than at her._

_The scratching of her quill paused. "Regret what?" she asked quietly._

_"Everything you've done for me."_

_"No," she replied without even an instant's hesitation._

_That shocked him so much that he turned to look at her. She was staring at her parchment but she was no longer writing._

_"Why did you do it?" he asked, wondering if he was going to want to hear the answer._

_For a moment, he wasn't sure that she was going to answer at all._

_"Voldemort took too many lives," she said finally, her voice filled with icy steel of which he wouldn't have guessed her capable. "Yours was one life that I could take back."_

The more that Severus thought about it, the more impressed he became with her answer. He'd been concerned that she'd give him some dunderhead answer about him deserving it or that she pitied him because of Lily and what had come of that. The fact that she'd done it as a show of defiance against Lord Voldemort meant that it wasn't about him at all, which he found comforting, particularly considering all that Minerva had told him about the way the wizarding world evidently saw him now – he still wasn't sure what to think about _that_ little development.

By using the most obscure side passages that he knew, Severus managed to avoid encountering anyone else all the way to the dungeons. It helped that it was still fairly early on Saturday. Most students would be sleeping in.

Severus paused when he saw that the portrait concealing the door to his chambers had been changed. It now bore the portrait of a Victorian Era woman in a flowered hat. She was tuning her violin as he approached. He almost asked what had happened to the last portrait, but then decided that he didn't really care. "Open," he said irritably, hoping that she wasn't going to be difficult.

She tipped her face up to look at him and he discovered that she was quite striking with curly dark hair mostly hidden beneath that hat and piercing brown eyes. There was something vaguely familiar about the eyes, but he couldn't place it at the moment.

"You would be Severus Snape," she smiled sweetly.

"Obviously," he drawled irritably.

She sighed delicately, her eyes reproachful. "You know, I requested this post when I heard that you were coming back. Marietta absolutely refused to guard your door. Luckily for me."

Severus narrowed his eyes at the talkative woman. "Are you going to let me inside?" he growled.

"Not until we've become acquainted," she said as though that should have been obvious. "Now, my name is Elizabeth. I used to hang in one of the upper towers, which was nice because it didn't get a lot of traffic – peaceful, you understand. It did get rather sunny though, and I am certain that I was beginning to fade. I imagine that this hallway will be quite satisfactory."

Severus clenched his jaw shut, resolving to wait her out.

"Though we hadn't previously had occasion to meet, I've quite been looking forward to it. Why, you're nearly as famous as Harry Potter…"

And just like that, Severus hit the limit of his tolerance. "Desist, painting, and let me into my quarters before I burn your portrait and request another."

"You wouldn't dare," she smirked, but she did swing open without further protest.

Huffing in annoyance, Severus passed her to enter his room. Inside, he was surprised to discover that it looked very much as he had left it before taking over as headmaster. He tried not to think about that disastrous year. He was certain that someone else had recently lived in his rooms because he could detect a faint scent of incense.

The first thing he did was explore the area, discovering that the small kitchen was fully stocked, his clothing all in his closet, and even his shampoo in the bathroom. He wondered if someone had actually kept record of exactly where he'd kept everything before moving it into storage.

When he was satisfied that he personal potions supply closet was fully stocked, he returned to the bathroom for a shower three years overdue. Once he was clean, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Growing up in a muggle town had instilled the habit in him and he'd never quite broken it, even if he never left his private rooms without donning his robes.

While his storeroom had been stocked with all the standard potions, some of his private stock was missing. That was understandable, as those potions could not have survived intact during his three year… nap. The first potion he began was his own version of the headache draught, since he'd been fighting a growing headache all day. The standard draught had a side effect of drowsiness and a lower all around effectiveness.

The potion took nearly an hour to complete, and he was in desperate need of it by the time he'd finished it. If he had to guess, he would say that something in the fumes from brewing had been making his headache steadily worse. He downed one dose of the potion in a single swig, and breathed a relieved sigh as he felt it immediately begin to relieve the pain.

He had just turned to begin bottling the headache draught when it hit him. The room spun around him and his knees exploded in pain as they collided with the floor. The way his head was swimming, he thought he was about to lose consciousness. With one last grunt of effort, he conjured his patronus and sent it off with a very brief message. "My lab. Help."

His face hit cold stone as he collapsed, and then darkness took him.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione – 6 May 2001**

Hermione paced across her flat slowly, nose buried in a muggle newspaper that had arrived via owl. She had no idea who had sent it to her or why and there had been nothing to draw her attention to any specific article, so she was reading them all in hopes of discovering the meaning of this. Finishing an article about some celebrity party, she was just moving her eyes down to the next when movement in the room caught her eye.

She spun toward it, her wand flying magically into her grasp as she turned to face the intruder. Rather than an intruder though, she found herself staring at a patronus in the form of a raven.

"My lab. Help," she heard in Severus' voice, though it sounded like he was having a very difficult time speaking. Without pausing to wonder why he'd called to her rather than Minerva or Poppy, Hermione turned on the spot and disapparated.

And then she was at Hogwarts, just outside the wards. She started running, the wards allowing her to pass since she was there relatively often to visit Minerva. Running was nothing new to Hermione. She ran every day that she could for exercise, and it had saved her life more than once when she found herself in a bad spot of which she couldn't disapparate her way out. She sprinted the entire way into the castle and slipped quickly into the least used passages and secret passages to avoid alarming the small groups of children roaming the halls on the weekend. Thankful for all the times she'd needed to use these passages while sneaking around the castle at night during her schooldays, she finally barreled down the stairs into the dungeons. One short hall and two turns took her to the portrait at Severus' private rooms. She'd been present when his possessions were moved into storage, so she knew the route well.

"Let me in," she instructed the portrait forcefully.

The young woman frowned at Hermione and opened her mouth with a clear intention of protesting.

"Severus may be in danger!" Hermione barked. "Let me in or I blast my way through," she warned, brandishing her wand in warning.

The portrait swung open silently.

Hermione barreled through and ran straight to Severus' lab, where she discovered him lying very still on the floor. Her heart leapt into her throat as the memory of his last brush with death assaulted her. She immediately rushed to him, turning him over onto his back to check for obvious injuries.

She cast a quick diagnostic and discovered that it was a nervous issue, which was a relief since she'd learned everything there was to know on the subject when she'd been constructing the potion to heal Severus. She cast a few more specific diagnostics and studied the results carefully. For some reason, the nerves around his brain were backfiring.

Struggling to understand how it could have happened, she glanced around the room. Her eyes fell on the still-warm potion. By the color and scent, she took it to be a headache draught. The standard draught couldn't have done this, but she didn't think that this was standard fare. First, the scent was a little bit off. Second, Severus being the potions' master that he was, he almost certainly had his own recipe.

She quickly conjured a complicated diagnostic spell that she had created a couple years back in order to closely examine completed potions. The recipe began to scroll away from the surface of the potion, written on the air in glowing violet script.

It took a troubling few minutes of study before she discovered the likely culprit of Severus' current condition. She quickly found a small sample of the offending ingredient among the supplies set out for his preparation. She sprinkled a bit of that into his mouth and cast a spell using the sample as a catalyst to nullify the effects of it already in his system.

Once it was done, she placed a hand gently on his throat, where she discovered his pulse gradually becoming stronger. She breathed a profound sigh of relief when she saw his eyes at last flutter open.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus – 6 May 2001**

Severus opened his eyes to the face of Hermione Granger. "Miss Granger?" he inquired curiously. Why did he keep waking up with her leaning over him? He looked around and found himself on the floor of his own potions' laboratory, Granger kneeling at his side, her hand resting against his neck. The latter felt surprisingly pleasant. "What happened?" he asked wearily, attempting to sit up only to find his head spinning terribly.

"You poisoned yourself, it would seem," she said. Leaning forward, she put one hand under his arm and the other behind his neck to help him slowly rise into a sitting position.

He wanted to scowl at her for the help, but he was too dizzy to properly manage it. "Explain," he said quietly, closing his eyes while he waited for the room to stop spinning.

"The mangsilla root in your headache draught," she explained, removing one hand from him and moving the other to his shoulder to keep him steady. "While a brilliant addition to the headache draught under normal circumstances, it was poisonous in your condition."

"Condition?" he asked irritably.

"Your nervous system was nearly destroyed, Severus," she replied, utterly unfazed by his tone. "While my potion healed you, your nervous system remains highly sensitive. The amount of mangsilla root that you ingested affected you much more profoundly than it would have three years ago. You should be safe to use this draught if you cut the portion of mangsilla root to about a sixth of what you used here."

_Insufferable know-it-all_. He thought irritably. Considering that she may have just saved his life though, he withheld his comment. "How do you know the recipe I used?" he said instead.

"A spell I created to analyze potions," she shrugged. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit dizzy," he snapped. "You might have mentioned my 'condition' while I was yet in the hospital," he griped since he was irritated at her saving him a second time as well as by the fact that he'd managed to put himself into that position.

"That should pass shortly," she replied, again entirely ignoring his tone. "And you're right," she added matter-of-factly, "I should have mentioned this. Honestly, it was not a side effect that I had foreseen, and it was not readily apparent to me until I was able to analyze your condition while the nerves were being repressed. This was my fault," she concluded with self-recrimination in her tone.

Severus rolled his eyes, annoyed that she'd managed to make him feel bad for blaming her. "What are you doing here?" he changed the subject.

She frowned curiously at him. "You sent your patronus to me, telling me where to find you and that you needed help. I was surprised to see that your patronus seems to have changed forms."

If he wasn't so good at controlling his emotions, he'd have gaped at her. He'd sent his patronus to _her_? And he'd been entire unaware that it had changed forms, though he supposed that it wasn't too surprising considering all that had happened. "I was mostly unconscious," he admitted. "I had meant to send it to Minerva."

"Be glad you didn't," she admonished. "I may not have arrived in time had you not contacted me directly."

And he was somehow in her debt again. Fantastic. "I hope I didn't take you from anything important," he muttered grudgingly.

"I was just doing a bit of reading," she smiled, glancing toward the door to the lab where a newspaper lay crumpled on the floor.

Evidently she'd come so quickly, she hadn't even bothered to set down what was in her hands. "Thank you for coming directly," he said, though the words tasted bitter coming out.

"Are you joking?" she chuckled. "I only just got you back on your feet. I wasn't going to let you die now."

Severus couldn't help a small smile at that. The woman had a remarkable gift for helping him without ever actually doing it _for _him.

The way that her eyes instantly settled on his lips quickly removed his smile. She was looking at him strangely. Curious to know what she was thinking, he looked into her eyes and used a gentle Legilimency to see what he could. Surprisingly, he found himself hitting a wall. He probed lightly, not wanting to alert her but curious to see how good her defenses were.

After a moment, she quirked a brow at him and he felt her mind hit his own defensive mental barrier. He recoiled in surprise even though he wasn't worried about her actually getting into _his _mind.

"When did you learn Legilimency?" he wondered.

The mischievous smirk instantly left her eyes in response to his question, and she looked away from him. "We all have our secrets, Severus."

He studied her curiously. There was obviously a story there, but one that she clearly had no desire to share with him. With a sigh, he reached up to the nearest table and used it to steady himself as he rose to his feet.

Granger reacted quickly, reaching for his arm as if to help.

"I don't need help," he snapped harshly, causing her to recoil as if burned. He didn't look at her while he held onto the table to keep himself steady.

"You appear to be well enough," her voice suddenly cold. "I suppose I may as well visit Minerva as long as I'm here."

With that, he heard her footsteps retreat. She paused by the door and there was a rustling sound as she retrieved her paper. He followed the sound of her feet on the floor all the way out of his rooms, then sagged down over the table, waiting for the dizziness to abate. He was rather glad that she'd left, though he did regret being so harsh. Insufferable know-it-all she may be, but she was one with a habit of saving his life.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione – 6 May 2001**

"Hermione, what a nice surprise," Minerva smiled when Hermione found her in her office. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"A minor complication with Severus, I'm afraid."

"Is he okay?"

Hermione quickly explained about what had happened. She was still furious with herself for overlooking such a simple but potentially deadly side effect. Why it had not occurred to her before that such may happen, she had no idea.

"Hermione, it is not your fault," Minerva admonished. "You accomplished the impossible in reviving Severus. You can hardly be blamed for such an oversight. You are not perfect, Hermione. You're the only one who expects otherwise."

Hermione waved off her concern. While she still blamed herself, she knew that Minerva would not listen to any argument on the matter. "He's aware of the problem now. I don't anticipate any more issues with it."

"Why did he send his patronus to you?" Minerva asked curiously.

"Evidently, he did not mean to," Hermione admitted. "He says that he was barely conscious at the time. Considering that I am his healer, he must have thought of me."

Minerva nodded thoughtfully, then changed the subject. "I'm actually glad that you're here. I have a proposition for you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Professor Redford has turned in his resignation. He will complete the term, but will not be returning in the fall."

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously.

"While brilliant in his field, it seems that teaching was not to his liking. He made a few references to the intelligence of his students that minded me strongly of Severus."

Hermione chuckled, recalling only too well what it was like to be a student of Severus Snape. He had, on occasion, managed to make even her feel stupid. That thought made her wonder what it was that Severus enjoyed about teaching – if anything at all.

"Regardless of his reasoning, I am not unhappy to see him go," Minerva continued. "His students did not do well on their exams."

"Well, then I hope you find a replacement more worthy."

Minerva smirked, "That is my hope as well. Therefore, at this time, I would like to formally offer you the position as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Hermione blinked, stunned. She took a moment to be sure that she had heard correctly, but the expression on Minerva's face indicated that she certainly had. "You want _me_ to be a professor?"

"Absolutely," Minerva said immediately. "Hermione, you are a brilliant witch. You're organized and driven to excel at anything you do. You're also more knowledgeable than some of the professors who have held the job."

Hermione considered it in silence, utterly blind-sided by the offer.

"Now that Severus is on his feet, have you given any thought to what you intend to do next?" Minerva asked, her tone softened.

Hermione avoided the older witch's eyes. She had most certainly given it some thought. And she'd most certainly come up empty. Her current skillset lent itself to a career in either healing or potions or she could go to work for the Ministry. Considering her skills, fame, and relationship to Harry "The Chosen One" Potter, she was certain that they'd take her, but she was considerably less certain about wanting to do that kind of work. She'd considered many possible careers when she was younger, but the increasing threat of Voldemort in her later years at Hogwarts and then the war itself in what should have been her seventh year had thoroughly sidetracked all consideration of a normal career. What had happened to Severus had caused her to devote herself to whatever was necessary to help him.

Now… Well, for all she knew that muggle paper may have simply been delivered to her by mistake – not all owls were exceptionally bright – but she'd fallen on it like it contained the secrets of the universe just because she was desperate for a new cause.

"I'm just not sure that I'm qualified, Minerva," she finally admitted, since she was running out of other deterrents.

"Nonsense!" Minerva scoffed. "Along with Harry and Ronald, you've been battling against the dark arts since your first year at Hogwarts. Considering what transpired during the war, I would have a difficult time finding someone _more _qualified with the aptitude to teach."

Hermione didn't have an argument for that one. The real question was if she _wanted _to teach. It may have seemed like a good idea at one time, but so much had changed since her sixth year.

"I don't know, Minerva," she finally sighed. "The last experience I had dealing with children is when I _was _one."

"Think about it," Minerva concluded. "I can wait until the first of August, but after that I'll have to find someone else."

"Okay," Hermione replied gratefully. Time to think sounded good.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus – 6 May 2001**

Once the room had ceased its spinning, Severus left his room to have a talk with the portrait. "How did Miss Granger get into my quarters?" he inquired.

"She was quite alarmed," the portrait replied. "She said that you may be hurt."

"So you just let her in?" he scowled. While he was grateful that Granger had been able to get in to help him, he was concerned that just anyone could evidently get in without his permission.

"The two of you have a lot in common," Elizabeth smirked, "She too threatened to destroy my portrait if I failed to comply."

"So a threat is all it takes for one to get into my quarters?"

"Honestly, Professor Snape, what kind of woman do you take me for? It was Hermione Granger! Every portrait in the school knows her! I was forced to make a judgment call given the circumstances that she described. In the future, if you would like me to prohibit such entrance regardless of circumstance, I assure you, I will be happy to risk my canvas. Even if it kills you."

Severus glared at the portrait for a long moment before sighing irritably. His headache was coming back. "This is going to be a very long year," he groused, heading back to his lab to brew another batch of headache draught.

* * *

**I assume that this goes without saying, but like nearly every other author, I live for reviews. In exchange for the entertainment (hopefully) that you take from reading my story, I ask only a few seconds of your time to send me a few words regarding what you're liking your disliking. Come on, you can do it. I know you have a keyboard right in front of you... And my thanks to those who have already sent reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I would like to apologize in advance for the articles contained in this chapter. My formal writing is no more than decent, and I never took any classes in journalism. Sorry about that, but I hope I make my point.

This chapter did not turn out exactly as I'd originally intended. I am finding that advanced plotting is much more difficult with someone else's characters. They don't always react the way I initially thought they might. I changed direction twice while sketching this chapter, then modified again while turning the sketch into the actual body. I hope that I've stayed true to the characters, though you must remember that much has changed – particularly for Hermione – over the last three years. Their personalities have been affected by the events they've endured. Please at least take that into consideration before yelling at me. Thanks and enjoy!

**Content Warning:** The very end of this chapter contains some brief but graphic violence. Absolutely **M** rated.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

* * *

**Severus - 26 May 2001-Saturday**

Severus answered a knock on his outer door warily, but relaxed when he saw Minerva.

"Come in, Headmistress," he drawled.

"Don't you 'headmistress' me, Severus Snape," she snapped immediately.

Severus sighed as the portrait swung slowly closed behind her. "Shall I assume that you're not interested in tea?" he asked in his most disinterested tone.

"Tea," she scoffed. "Honestly, Severus! I've barely caught a glimpse of you in weeks. Do you ever leave these dungeons?"

"I have everything I need here, Minerva," he replied mildly.

"You insufferable bloody choob!" she growled.

Severus raised his eyebrows at her language.

"Hermione did not spend three years giving you your life back so that you could piss it away in this dungeon!" she continued to badger.

"I did not ask her to give three years of her life for me," he growled, becoming irritated. "The girl's quest had nothing to do with me, Minerva. It was her way of dealing with the war-"

"Nothing to do with you?!" Minerva sputtered.

"She is a silly girl with an obsession with being right-"

"You will stop speaking this instant!" she snapped with more anger in her eyes than Severus had seen since he'd dueled her while she was yet under the assumption that he'd betrayed and murdered Dumbledore.

Though he definitely had more to say on the subject, he clenched his jaw and stopped before she drew the wand that her hand had already twitched toward. He could not for the life of him understand why she was so upset.

"It is time you knew _exactly _what 'that girl' did for you," she went on once it was clear that he would not interrupt. "_She _was the one who saved your life during the battle. She healed you when you lost consciousness."

Severus had half expected that. He'd been pretty sure that he would not have lasted much beyond Granger and her friends leaving him.

"She sat at your bedside. She protected you. _Defended_ you! She spoke at your trial. She rallied the wizarding world behind you."

Severus wondered if she was then to blame for the annoying way that everyone looked at him with pity and called him a hero even while they saw a victim. If she was, then she was actually at fault for all the time he'd been spending in the dungeons of late, for he was only down there avoiding everyone in the castle above. He almost mentioned that, but Minerva still looked ready to start flinging hexes so he flexed his jaw yet again and held his tongue.

"She almost died putting together that cure!"

He frowned at that.

"She was nearly torn apart by centaurs, roasted by giants, cursed by common criminals! She was even Imperiused to kill _you_! If Hermione wasn't as stubborn as they come, you _would _be dead right now, Severus Snape! You are not the only one who lost the last three years, but at least you got to sleep through yours. You will watch your foul tongue when speaking of Hermione Granger!" Her jaw worked several times as though she had more to say, but in the end, she just turned and stormed out of his rooms.

Severus was left staring after her in utter shock. Granger had made it sound like healing him had very little to do with him personally. Even if that was true, it didn't make less what she'd actually done for him.

/\*/\*/\

An hour later, Severus was still pacing in front of the fire in his sitting room thinking about what Minerva had said.

He paused at a knock on his door, wary of another visit like the last. The only thing that could make it more unpleasant was if Granger herself showed up this time.

After a slight hesitation, he went to the door, expecting that neither Granger nor Minerva would simply go away if he didn't answer.

He pushed open the portrait, ready for just about anything. He did not expect to find nothing. Stepping out, he surveyed the hall in both directions, only to find it empty. Assuming that it was likely Peeves having a laugh, he was about to go back inside when his foot bumped into something. It appeared to be a bundle of Daily Prophets tied together.

He picked it up warily and read the attached note as he made his way back into his rooms.

He recognized Minerva's precise scrawl instantly.

_You should know what you're talking about the next time you open your bloody mouth._

With a sigh, he removed the note and unbound the papers. Curious about the contents despite his intention to remain annoyed with Minerva, he sat down on his sofa, placed the pile on the floor, and examined the first one. It was worn and had obviously been read several times at least. The date marked it about three and a half months after the Battle at Hogwarts.

_**Daily Prophet: 18 August 1998**_

_Miss Hermione Granger, close personal friend of Harry Potter, testified on behalf of Severus Snape, former headmaster of Hogwarts. She emotionally stated, "Severus Snape is a hero." She went on to describe the circumstances leading up to Mr. Snape's brush with death at the hands of Voldemort himself, and confirmed that she did personally stabilize his condition through the use of essence of dittany and a healing spell that she had evidently learned from her former potions' professor, Mr. Snape himself._

_After the battle ended, Miss Granger personally sat vigil at Mr. Snape's bedside at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for six days without interruption. When asked why, she replied, "I wanted to ensure that no accidents should befall him while tempers ran high". Highly acclaimed Legilimens, Jeffery Dane confirmed the validity of Miss Granger's testimony._

Severus read through the article twice. He did not recall ever teaching her a healing spell, but he had not forgotten that Harry Potter had once gotten his hands on Severus' old school book. He'd written everything in there, including a healing spell he'd once created. That must have been to what she was referring. He shook his head as he read the second paragraph a third time. She'd spent six days at his bedside to make sure that he wasn't murdered in his sleep. Six days immediately after the final battle while she was surely still grieving lost loved ones.

He found that he could forgive her for calling him a hero.

_**Daily Prophet: 2 May 1999**_

_On this first anniversary of Liberation Day, I sat down with Miss Hermione Granger, close personal friend of Harry Potter and veteran of the Second Wizarding War. Miss Granger appeared quiet and withdrawn upon arriving, offering hardly more than a soft-spoken greeting._

_**Karos:** Miss Granger, it's been a year since the fateful day that brought an end to the war and left Severus Snape so grievously wounded._

_**Miss Granger:** Yes._

_**Karos:** You've been working to discover a remedy for Mr. Snape for nearly eleven months now, is that correct?_

_**Miss Granger:** Yes._

_**Karos:** The Daily Prophet has since interviewed several experts in the field of healing, all of whom have examined Mr. Snape and insist that his condition cannot be cured._

_**Miss Granger:** Very little worth doing is ever accomplished without challenge, Miss Karos._

_**Karos:** Challenge is one thing, Miss Granger. What you're doing is evidently impossible._

_**Miss Granger:** As it was once considered impossible to relieve the symptoms of lycanthropy until Damocles created Wolfsbane. As it was impossible to live forever until Nicholas Flamel created the Philosopher's Stone. 'Impossible' is most often a terribly misguided choice of expression where magic is concerned._

_**Karos:** You seem extremely confident, Miss Granger, and while I take your point regarding 'impossibilities' do you truly believe that it is within your ability to overcome this obstacle. After all, you are only nineteen years old and did not even complete your final year of study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-_

_**Miss Granger:** While you are correct that I did not complete my final year of classes, I did, however, complete my NEWTs independently. And received top marks._

_**Karos:** Your intelligence is not in question, Miss Granger, but your experience is. What you strive to accomplish is something that even veteran potions' masters claim to be 'impossible'. Why do you think that you can accomplish it?_

_**Miss Granger:** Because I have no intention of giving up, Miss Karos._

_**Karos:** You've already devoted a year of your life to this pursuit. Do you truly intend to devote another five?_

_**Miss Granger:** If that's what it takes._

_**Karos:** You are certainly a young woman of amazing conviction, Miss Granger. While I can admire that, I wonder if you've considered all that you could accomplish for the wizarding world if you were to devote yourself to a higher cause. Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley are already underway on their training to become Aurors. Most individuals your age are either attending University or undergoing their apprenticeships while you have devoted yourself to independent study with the neigh-impossible goal of curing a single man-_

_**Miss Granger:** [Miss Granger burst from her chair] Severus Snape devoted his life to the miserable existence of a spy within Lord Voldemort's inner circle. He sacrificed everything to give us a fighting chance against that monster, and you have the gall to lecture me for not pursuing a more 'worthy' course of study?_

_**Karos:**I only-_

_**Miss Granger:** Truly, I am appalled that I am the only one attempting to save this man. This interview is over._

_And it was most certainly over, for, with a disgusted glower, Miss Granger disapparated on the spot. I was hoping to ask her if her motivation didn't include a relationship with her former professor that was perhaps more than professional, but I think that her response to my last question fairly well proves that such was the case._

Severus stared at the paper in his hand in complete disbelief. Did people truly think that he'd been romantically involved with Hermione Granger? And before she was even seventeen? It took him several minutes to move past that last paragraph and examine the rest of the article.

He wasn't surprised at all to discover that she'd completed her NEWTs without attending her seventh year at all. He didn't doubt that she'd exceeded expectations or better across the board, and likely been extremely disappointed by anything less than outstanding.

This was the second time that Granger had been quoted saying something about him that suggested she had not given him her true motive – or at least entire motive – when he'd asked her why she'd saved him. The way that she'd vowed to devote as much time as necessary to reviving him was somewhat surprising as well.

With a sigh, he moved onto the next.

_**Daily Prophet: 2 May 2000**_

_With the second Liberation Day upon us, this paper has again interviewed Miss Hermione Granger, close personal friend of Harry Potter, veteran of the Second Wizarding War, and the only witch still attempting to revive Mr. Severus Snape. Upon sitting down with me, Miss Granger appeared noticeably exhausted and somewhat underweight. She began the interview with a very direct and vehement statement._

_**Miss Granger:** I am here to set the record straight, Miss Karos, not to entertain your lewd notions of my alleged 'relations' with Severus Snape prior to Liberation Day. Therefore, I will say this once and only once and will be answering no questions with regard to the topic. Never was there anything intimate or otherwise inappropriate to a student-teacher relationship between Severus Snape and myself. To be perfectly honest, he disliked me from my first day at Hogwarts and my feelings toward him were never any warmer. Do you have any questions regarding another topic?_

_**Karos:** I apologize for my assumption following our last interview, Miss Granger. It was not my intention to misrepresent your relationship. I'm sure you can understand though how I drew those conclusions considering your-_

_**Miss Granger:** I cannot, actually. If there's nothing else that you wish to discuss, I do have other things to which I must attend today._

_**Karos:** Of course, I understand. Moving right along then. The first question I must ask is whether you have made any progress towards reviving Mr. Snape._

_**Miss Granger:** Progress is slow, as is to be expected whenever facing a challenge of this magnitude, and it is difficult to categorize. What today seems a promising lead may tomorrow prove a dead end. The opposite is true as well._

_**Karos:** I see. Well, regardless of where your progress may or may not stand with regard to Mr. Snape, it is a fact that you have made some, and I quote Potions Monthly on this, "revolutionary advances in the treatment of nerve disorders". That said, I would like to offer a second apology. I suggested when last we spoke that perhaps you should focus your considerable talent on a higher cause – something that may benefit the general public. As I see you have done so as a side effect of your research, it seems that my suggestion was unfounded._

_**Miss Granger:** Your apology is acknowledged._

_**Karos:** I appreciate that, Miss Granger. Now, my sources have stated that, while you attend Mr. Snape at least once each month, you've spent a considerable amount of time outside Britain this last year. What is it that continually draws you away?_

_**Miss Granger:** My goal is extremely unorthodox, Miss Karos, requiring tremendous amounts of research. Not all of that research can be done in Britain._

_**Karos:** Fair enough. Can you give our readers an example of this research?_

_**Miss Granger:** No._

_**Karos:** I see. Moving along then… My sources indicate that Harry Potter has visited Mr. Snape every week for the last two years. Tell me, does Mr. Potter feel responsible for Mr. Snape's condition?_

_**Miss Granger:** I will not be answering any questions regarding Harry Potter. If you have inquiries, I suggest you direct them toward him._

_**Karos:** Understood, Miss Granger. Back to Mr. Snape then. I know that you said last year that you would not give up on this cure you are attempting to create, but, given the perspective of another year, I have to wonder… Is there a point at which you move on with your life? Or perhaps at least make it a secondary goal?_

_**Miss Granger:** No._

_**Karos:** Not at all? Not ten years? Not twenty?_

_**Miss Granger:** Not fifty. If I allow that there is a point at which it becomes okay to quit, then I have already given up._

_So there you have it. Miss Granger has vowed to stay the course, and the Daily Prophet will continue to run yearly updates on this story and our fair heroine._

It was becoming apparent that each article had more capacity to surprise him than that last. Granger's final comment in particular kept circling around in his head. He could imagine her voice saying those words. Two years in, and she still wasn't even considering giving up.

Still, he was forced to smirk when he read her first comment again. He could well imagine how furious she must have been when she'd read that reporter's assumption at the conclusion of the interview. At least as disturbed as he'd been, and probably even angrier. He didn't doubt that she'd only agreed to a second interview in order to make that comment.

The other part that truly surprised him was how much many of her responses sounded like something he might say. Things such as her "acknowledgement" of the reporter's apology rather than acceptance.

He felt his eyes widen as he took in the cover shot on the next paper. Granger was the focus, and she looked like she'd just come out of a battle. There were several cuts and scrapes on her face, which was covered in her blood and a significant amount of dirt to the point that he hardly recognized her. Her ordinarily disorderly hair was in complete disarray, filthy and littered with debris in an exaggerated halo around her head. Her clothing was likewise filthy, torn, and bloodied. In the picture, she was leaning against a weathered little house, heaving to catch her breath, her wand held tightly in her fist though not like she expected to need it immediately. She did not seem to be aware of the camera.

_**Daily Prophet: 6 June 2000**_

_Barely a month after Miss Hermione Granger's last interview with the Daily Prophet, a source has spotted the famous witch in rural Ukraine. As you can clearly see from the attached photograph, she appears to have recently been in some form of battle. Considering that this photograph was taken very near the Kashmir mountains, one wonders if the giants rumored to dwell there are not responsible for her condition._

So this must have been the result of her confrontation with the giants that Minerva had mentioned.

After reading the article, he noticed a small notation made in the margin in Minerva's hand. _Avendula blossoms_.

Avendula blossoms were one of the necessary ingredients in the potion she'd created, he recalled. An extremely rare ingredient. One of the only places in the world that it could be found was the Ukrainian mountains.

She could have very easily been killed. Most in that situation likely would have been. She'd done that for him.

He swallowed hard and moved onto the next paper.

This one also had an interesting photograph. It looked like Knockturn Alley in the background. Hermione was standing in the middle of three Aurors. She handed her wand over to one of them, her expression weary and annoyed. Then her eyes settled directly on the camera and her face turned icy, her glare intimidating enough to impressive even him. He never could have imagined Granger looking like that.

_**Daily Prophet: 18 August 2000**_

_Another sighting of Hermione Granger in distress, it is clear from this photograph that the talented young witch has run afoul of the Ministry this time. While the Aurors present and the Auror office at the Ministry of Magic have refused to comment, sources tell us that Miss Granger was apprehended while consorting with Dekkison Darwhal, a known smuggler dealing in dangerous substances and a suspected practitioner of the dark arts._

_Will this arrest sully the name of her close friend Harry Potter? Is Miss Granger bound for Azkaban? Have her breakthroughs in healing been obtained along a dark path? These are the questions we find ourselves asking on this sad day for the wizarding world. These questions and more we will strive to answer in the days ahead as we continue to follow this chilling story._

Severus huffed incredulously and picked up the next paper. There was no way at all that Hermione had anything to do with the dark arts. He did however, recognize the name of the man she'd been "consorting" with. Dekkison Darwhal was what the article had said. He was also a highly skilled potions' master. No doubt she'd been talking to him about something do with her potion.

The next paper had Kingsley Shakelbolt making a speech on the front page.

_**Daily Prophet: 19 August 2000**_

_Regarding yesterday's story on Hermione Granger's arrest, the Minister of Magic has requested an immediate retraction. Minster Shackelbolt gave the following statement. "Miss Granger is not and never was a suspect as a practitioner of the dark arts, nor was she arrested yesterday. She was a witness related to an ongoing investigation and was asked to accompany some of our Auror's back to the Ministry for relevant questioning. She left later the same evening."_

_In light of the Minister's statement, the Daily Prophet would like to apologize to Miss Granger as well as all of our readers for our previous mistaken report. Furthermore, we are impressed to see that Miss Granger yet flies in all the right circles. It must be nice to have friends so highly placed in the Ministry._

Severus shook his head and moved on. The Daily Prophet _would_ be incapable of admitting their mistake without making foolish insinuations. Of course Kingsley had been a member of the Order and there was little doubt that Granger was in fact in his good graces. That may have weighed in her favor, but Severus knew that Kingsley would not have hesitated to send her to Azkaban had there been any truth to the Prophet's accusations.

_**Daily Prophet: 16 December 2000**_

_Miss Hermione Granger has laid formal charges today against Hestia MacTiris, claiming that MacTiris had used the Imperius curse against her in an attempt to assassinate Severus Snape, who remains comatose at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. According to the statement submitted to the Auror office, Miss Granger managed to overcome the curse, regaining her sensibilities only moments before delivering the killing blow to the helpless Mr. Snape. MacTiris was formerly cleared of charges as a death eater during the trials following Liberation Day. It seems that the Ministry may have made a grave mistake this time._

Severus read the article again, then found himself staring at the picture of Granger next to the article. The only thing he could see on her face was weariness as she stared directly into the camera, almost motionless apart from the occasional blink.

The Imperius curse was nearly impossible to overcome on will alone. If his count was right, this would be the third time she'd managed to save his life. Well, fourth counting the little incident in his lab…

_**Daily Prophet: 2 May 2001**_

_As promised last Liberation Day, the Daily Prophet attempted to secure an interview with Miss Hermione Granger, close personal friend of Harry Potter, veteran of the Second Wizarding War, and acclaimed potions' mistress. Repeated attempts to contact her, however, have resulted in multiple refusals from the young witch. Sources close to Miss Granger have reported that she has not left St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in more than a month. It has also been reported that Miss Granger's health is failing. She was described to this reporter by one source as follows. "I don't think she really sleeps, and she doesn't eat much. She looks really ill." When asked about her condition, he answered, "I think she's obsessed with finding her cure. Obsessed to the point that it's killing her."_

Severus rolled his eyes and didn't bother finishing that article. It was published the day before he'd woken up, and Granger had not looked sick.

After a moment, he lounged back on his sofa and closed his eyes, considering all he'd just learned. He owed Miss Granger much more than he'd ever wanted to owe anyone, particularly her. Now he just had to figure out what to do about it.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 28 July 2001-Saturday**

Hermione stood not five meters from the wizard she'd tracked across Britain, Germany, and France over the last two months. The muggle newspaper that she had anonymously received had contained a story about five murdered muggles in northern Scotland. While she hadn't been certain, it had looked like it may have been the work of the dark arts. What she'd discovered when she'd gone to investigate had proven it.

From there, she'd begun tracking him. Now, finally, she had caught up to him on a beautiful little bluff west of Bordeaux, the air choked with salt and the din of crashing waves on the rocks to her right.

"It's time to stop running, Voriette," she shouted to him.

He turned toward her slowly, wand held at the ready.

Hermione stared him down, waiting for him to make a move. Focused intently on his eyes over the distance that separated them, she delved into his thoughts, waiting for his first spell.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted.

At almost the same time he cast his spell, Hermione lifted her own wand, blocking the killing curse. "Expulso," she barely breathed, channeling a mountain of magical energy into the attack, but keeping her voice low to avoid giving him the smallest warning.

The ground beneath him erupted in a powerful explosion, sending him flying, his wand tumbling from his hand. She performed a quick accio to claim his wand before approaching his still form lying half a dozen meters behind where he'd stood.

When she reached him, she found his legs nearly gone, his lower torso ruptured in a dozen places. He was already dead, but his body didn't know it yet, gasping like a fish, three more breaths. Each was shallower than the last. Finally, he breathed no more. His eyes were vacant. His body still twitched a bit, but it was well and truly over.

She stared at him for a long moment. The scene may have been enough to make her lose her breakfast had she not seen what this creature had done to six different families while she'd tracked him. Four had been muggle families. Two had been wizarding families. None had survived, and every corpse had looked worse than his.

She snapped his wand in half and tossed it on top of his corpse before turning around. She walked down the beach a bit, staring out over the crashing waves.

It was the 28 of July. She had just three more days to reply to Minerva's offer. Glancing back at the corpse of the monster she'd just slain, she spun on the spot, vanishing mid-turn.

* * *

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I look forward to reading more of your comments!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Back to Hogwarts as the start of term approaches.

**Warning:** Whiplash may ensue, but I think it's worth it.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 21 August 2001-Tuesday**

Hermione looked up at the splendor of the castle as she approached the gates to Hogwarts. Her feelings were always mixed when she visited the castle. What had once felt like a cherished second home was now tainted by memories of fear, pain, and grief. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to look at this castle, much less go into it, without remembering everyone that she'd lost in the war. That had been part of the reason that she'd hesitated to come back as a professor. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle living in the castle again.

Still… Loitering at the gate wasn't going to solve anything. With a sigh, she made her way to Minerva's office, past the gargoyle guarding her door, up the revolving staircase, and was quickly invited in.

"Hermione!" Minerva crowed, hurrying around her desk to kiss the younger witch on her cheek. "I've missed you. Wherever did you get to this time?"

"Ended up in France," Hermione admitted, forcing a small smile.

"I'd started considering alternatives for the position when I finally received your letter," Minerva admitted. "What made you decide to take the job?"

Hermione didn't attempt to hold the forced smile anymore. "I suppose that I realized how important it is for children to get a solid education in defense against the dark arts. I remember when Harry was teaching the D.A. He was able to take kids like Neville, who'd never done particularly well at anything but Herbology and he taught him to conjure of full patronus. It got me thinking that just attending a class isn't enough for every kid to learn a subject. Sometimes it's more about _how _they're taught. Once I'd thought of that," she shrugged. "Well, I couldn't just trust any old professor with that."

Minerva gave her a quick hug. "The students will be lucky to have you as their defense professor."

"Thank you, Minerva," Hermione acknowledged.

The older woman pulled back and looked into Hermione's eyes for a moment with concern edging on hers. "So what did you do in France this summer?"

"I traveled around a bit," Hermione hedged. "Visited the coast. It was quite beautiful," she admitted, trying to think about it minus the wizard she'd killed."

"Are you okay, dear?"

"I will be," Hermione assured her, forcing another smile.

"Well, I suppose you'd best get to unpacking before dinner," Minerva concluded. "I assume you recall the way?"

"Of course," Hermione nodded. With a flick of her wand, she levitated her trunk again and sent it down the stairs ahead of her.

Upon arriving at the quarters for the defense professor, Hermione found herself looking around at the plain space thoughtfully. It was empty now, but it had housed a very long line of single-year residents over the years. Everyone from Delores Umbridge to Slughorn, Lupin, and beyond. Even Quirrel had lived here.

She shuddered slightly and pushed those thoughts from her mind. It didn't matter who'd lived here before. She lived here now, and she was going to make it hers for as long as she was here. With that determination, she opened her trunk and began unpacking her things and restoring them to their proper size before putting them away. She didn't have that much since she was used to living out of a packed bag most of the time. She was done well before dinner and opened a book she'd already read several times to pass the time while she waited.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 21 August 2001-Tuesday**

Severus buttoned the many buttons on his robe with a flick of his wand, then started toward the Great Hall for dinner. He no longer kept himself locked up in his dungeons. That had changed the night Minerva had so _forcefully _made him understand exactly what it was that Granger had done for hm. He hated being in debt to anyone, her even more than many others it could have been, but that didn't change the debt he felt. He'd woken the first morning after learning so much and he'd known what he intended to do to begin repaying the witch.

He was going to try to make his future something more than his past had been. He wasn't exactly sure in what manner he was going to manage that, but he knew where he was going to start. Firstly, he'd returned to taking meals in the Great Hall. Second, he'd decided to make an attempt to be no ruder to his colleagues than he absolutely had to.

In three months, he and Minerva had never discussed that fight or the way that he'd changed after. He was grateful for that, though he did occasionally catch the smallest, most annoying smirk on her lips when she happened to see him going out of his way to avoid being an arse. He truly had no idea what might come of trying to be more polite, but considering that he was no longer a spy, he figured that he didn't have to put such effort into keeping everyone at as great a distance as possible.

He entered the Great Hall and took his customary seat on Minerva's left, nodding a polite greeting before immediately turning his attention to his food, which arrived almost as soon as he was seated. Since it always seemed such an effort to avoid being rude, he tried not to talk to anyone any more than was strictly necessary. With that in mind, eating quickly and excusing himself was generally the best course.

He'd only just begun to eat when someone slid into the chair on his left. A chair that had been vacant since end of term.

"Miss Granger," he blinked, surprised when he turned to see her settling in next to him.

"Hello, Severus," she nodded politely but it looked like she had to work for that small smile that did not reach her eyes. "How are you feeling?" she asked conversationally, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, grimacing at the flavor, then turning toward the food just appeared on her plate.

"Well," he replied absently, studying the young witch. "How are _you _feeling?" he had to ask.

She glanced sideways at him as a bite of food went into her mouth, which forced him to wait for her to chew to get her answer. "I'm well, thank you," she replied.

"Liar," he commented mildly.

This time she turned her head to study him more closely. "You're not reading _my _mind, Severus."

The certainty behind that statement surprised him, though she happened to be quite correct. "I'm not," he agreed. "I am reading everything else."

"Since when did you become so talkative?" she groused, returning her attention to her dinner.

"Since when did you become so evasive?" he returned in kind.

She huffed an irritable sigh, "Severus, Minerva will have my eyes if I leave this table without finishing my meal. Please allow me to eat in peace."

Sufficiently stunned by her demeanor, Severus relented. He'd known that the Hermione Granger he'd woken up to had not been the one he had taught for six years. She'd been harder, quieter, and not easily ruffled – qualities that he found an extreme improvement. She'd changed again over the last three months. Or perhaps she was just having a particularly bad day. Perhaps this side of her had been present three months ago. He'd hardly spent enough time with her to judge. Still, her request had sounded an awfully lot like something he might say.

At last concluding that it was almost certainly a passing phenomenon, he decided to let the matter pass unmolested. "Are you visiting Minerva?" he asked as politely as he could manage.

Granger's fork paused en route to her mouth as he spoke to her again. After a beat of hesitation, she glanced at him shrewdly and he felt the gentle pressure as her eyes met his that signified she was trying to identify his thoughts. It felt like an instinctive action rather than a deliberate one to him. It was truly shocking how capable she seemed to have become to so effortlessly use Legilimency without her wand in hand or a word uttered.

He just quirked an eyebrow at her as she had done when he'd attempted the same thing on her. As soon as he did that, the pressure vanished as she evidently realized what she was doing.

"Sorry. Habit," she said quietly, looking away from him.

He nodded but said nothing.

"Did you tell anyone, Minerva?" she asked, raising her voice just a little to more easily carry to the witch on the other side of him.

"And deprive you of the look on his face when he found out?" the older witch chuckled.

Severus felt his lips thin in annoyance. How had he suddenly become the brunt of a joke? Considering the source, most likely a foolish joke as well.

He heard Granger sigh. It seemed that she wasn't in the mood for jokes either.

"It seems that now would be the time," Severus drawled to Minerva since Granger clearly wasn't in the mood for this.

"Excuse me, everyone," Minerva said, rising from her seat and speaking for the whole table to hear though there were only a dozen people present. "I would like to introduce you all to our new Defense professor."

Granger rose halfway out of her seat with another of those forced smiles, then settled back into her chair.

While everyone congratulated Granger and expressed their pleasure to be working with her, Severus watched her curiously. While she was making an attempt to seem pleased, he could see the weight behind her eyes. It was a weight that he'd been seeing in the mirror for more years that he cared to count.

This was more than a bad day, he realized at once. Something had happened to her. Something that she was carrying with her like a weight around her neck. He wasn't exactly sure what was in his eyes as he absorbed that, but when her eyes met his, she looked away quickly.

"Really, Severus?" Minerva prodded cheerfully. "Nothing to say?"

"I'm sure Miss Granger will fill the position admirably," he said with little interest in his voice. Truthfully, had he woken up to hear that announcement he'd have had something else entirely to say about it. Considering the changes he'd noticed in her since then however… Well, he actually did mean what he said, even if he'd deliberately allowed his tone to convey otherwise.

He glanced at Granger to see how she'd responded to his statement. He expected to find indignation, affront, or at least mild annoyance. Instead, she seemed to be ignoring him entirely though there was no way she could have missed the comment.

She quickly took a few more bites of food, washed it down with a swig of pumpkin juice, then rose from her chair.

"Are you leaving already, Hermione?" Minerva asked, looking borderline alarmed.

"I had a late lunch, Minerva," Granger offered, "and I've more unpacking to do."

"Of course," Minerva relented. "See you at breakfast."

Granger nodded quickly and departed without another word.

Severus watched after her curiously. "Is she always like that?" he asked Minerva.

The Headmistress shook her head thoughtfully, looking the same direction as he. "When I asked her what she did this summer, she evaded the question," she said quietly. "Something happened to her while she was away this time. Something worse than giants or centaurs."

Severus' brow rose at that.

Minerva noticed the expression as she turned back to her supper. "As I said before, Hermione has had her share of brushes with death since the war. She's been admitted to St. Mungo's twice and I've no doubt she healed more of her own wounds than I care to think about. Whatever happened this time, it was considerably worse."

Severus sat for only a moment longer before realizing that he'd lost all appetite though he'd barely even touched his food. With a brief nod to Minerva, he rose and left the table.

He made his way slowly back to his quarters, running over this unexpected situation in his mind. He owed Granger a debt for saving his life so many times. It was a debt he'd probably never be able to repay, but if she was going to be staying at Hogwarts, maybe he could find a way to repay a little of it. When it came to guilt, self-loathing, and depression, he was an expert. He just had to figure out how to talk to her about it.

Aware that it would be only too easy to convince Granger to shut him out if he chose the wrong way to broach the subject, Severus decided to be patient. He spent the next week keeping an eye on her without being pushy. She dutifully attended every meal in the Great Hall, which was probably just enough to keep Minerva from showing up at her room yelling as she'd done to Severus. He didn't think that approach would work with Granger anyway since Minerva wouldn't be able to clobber Granger over the head with a life debt as she'd done to him.

No, she was at every meal, but it was clear to him that she didn't want to be. Day after day, she showed up to meals, spoke politely when spoken to, and usually ate most of her food, but she never initiated conversation with anyone. She mostly kept her eyes down, avoiding the eye contact that may inadvertently invite a dialog, and she ate quickly.

Her symptoms were so plain to Severus that he couldn't believe everyone didn't see it, but then he did have some first-hand experience from which to draw his conclusions. He'd spent a long time keeping up appearances, whatever those appearances needed to be. Granger was keeping up her own appearances now.

/\*/\*/\

Finally, three days before start of term, Severus was passing by the Defense classroom when he noticed Granger inside. She was leaning against the front of her desk, staring blankly out across the otherwise vacant room. Her shoulders were slightly hunched and she had a distant, haunted look in her eyes.

While he wasn't entirely sure if it wasn't a mistake, Severus stepped into the room.

Granger flinched the instant that he crossed the threshold, spinning on him, her wand leaping into her hand before she could even complete the quarter turn.

Severus froze, sufficiently sobered by her stunning reflexes. One did not acquire reflexes like that without need. The fact that they were still operating at maximum capacity even within Hogwarts – the most secure building in Britain – was testimony to just how much she'd been through.

When she saw it was him, she sighed softly, slipping her wand absently back up her sleeve. "You startled me," she said, her tone somewhere between explanation and accusation.

"That was not my intention," he admitted.

"Did you need something?" she inquired, her there's-nothing-wrong-with-me mask slipping back into place.

He shook his head and approached her slowly until he was only a few paces away. "How are you doing?" he asked quietly when she'd resumed leaning against the desk, though her shoulders were straighter now.

She frowned at him. "Minerva told you."

Severus lifted one eyebrow.

"You're being nice to me, Severus," she sighed in answer to his unspoken question.

"Is it so hard to believe that I may have simply changed, Miss Granger? Facing one's certain death does tend to inspire such things."

She huffed a half amused laugh, "You didn't change this much," she said with certainty. "Besides, I've seen you at meals. You don't seem so keen to ask after Filius' health."

He nodded slightly, acknowledging the truth of her observation. "Miss Granger-"

"Please call me Hermione," she requested tiredly.

He frowned at her, surprised.

She glanced at him. "Like it or not, Severus, we are colleagues now. And after… everything that's happened… I think we're beyond such formalities, don't you?"

Severus grimaced, but nodded. That was going to take some getting used to. "Very well. _Hermione_, you have been privy to some of my greatest secrets. The worst moments of my life."

Her shoulders sagged again and she grimaced. Clearly she understood where he was going with this, so he didn't bother finishing the short speech he'd practiced at least fifty times in his head over the last week.

"I know that it's foolish and naïve, Severus, but," she began very quietly, "somehow, during the war… Voldemort became the very embodiment of all that was evil and wrong in the world…"

Severus nodded his understanding, moving to lean against the desk next to her. "And then he died, and the world was little better."

She nodded kind of numbly. "It's not as though I've only just discovered this. I should be used to it by now."

"You never really get used to some things," he admitted.

She grimly nodded her agreement.

"What happened this summer?" he asked after a long moment of silence.

She sighed heavily, "I discovered that a muggle family in northern Scotland had been murdered by someone employing the dark arts."

Severus winced, having seen that very things more times than he wanted to think about.

"I followed his trail across Germany and France before I caught up with him. He killed five more families in that time. Didn't just kill them. He did… terrible things to them. Terrible."

"Did you kill him?" Severus asked quietly.

She nodded with grim satisfaction. "It was quick. He didn't suffer."

She sounded like she hadn't decided if she lamented making it quick.

"When I confronted him… He…" she swallowed hard. "He cast Avada Kedavra against me."

Despite himself, Severus sucked in a shallow breath at that. She'd not confronted any novice practitioner if he'd succeeded in casting that spell. "You're lucky to be alive," he said quietly.

She shrugged it off as though it were entirely unimportant. "He had no skill whatsoever in Occlumency. I blocked it and returned with Expulso."

Severus nodded appreciatively, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I was so furious that he'd used Avada Kedavra… I lost too many friends to that spell."

At that, Severus closed his eyes and let out a slow breath.

She glanced at him briefly, "I guess you have too."

He just barely nodded his head.

"I completely shredded the lower half of his body."

"You did well, Miss… Hermione," Severus said quietly.

"I know," she agreed softly. "Killing him didn't bother me. It's the faces of his victims that haunt me. That's why I decided to take this job. Someone needs to teach these kids how to properly defend themselves."

"You will make a good teacher."

"You really think so?" she asked, actually seeming concerned.

"Absolutely," he smirked. "I'm sure Potter and Weasley would have failed more than just my class if not for you."

She smiled, and it actually reached her eyes.

Severus felt a thrill of success at having made her smile.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 28 August 2001-Tuesday**

Hermione stared at Severus in wonder as his smirk grew into a small but true smile. She'd always viewed him as a rather unattractive man, but she'd never seen him smile before – certainly not like this. What it did to his face was astonishing. From the curve of his surprisingly attractive lips to the to the light suddenly illuminating his black eyes, her entire perspective of him physically was turned on its head in those few seconds that that smile lasted.

Finally, he looked away and the smile slowly slipped off his lips as though they didn't know how to hold it there. It didn't matter that it was gone though. Hermione knew that it was in there now. She didn't think she'd ever again be able to look at him without thinking about what his scowl was hiding.

Her mouth got dry and she forgot what they'd been talking about. The fact that she suddenly found herself attracted to Severus Snape was… She didn't even know where to begin considering all of the reasons that it was absolutely wrong. Granted, she was no longer his student and he no longer her patient. They were colleagues now, as she'd pointed out, but… Well, he was still old enough to be her father. Of course, her father was considerably older, since her parents had been in their thirties before she was born, but…

But it was SEVERUS SNAPE!

He must have misinterpreted her sudden anxiety because he reached over to put his hand on her shoulder. While the gesture was awkward and he seemed like he might have been expecting to get hexed for his trouble, the gentle touch was exactly the wrong thing for her given what she was thinking about.

She took a quick step away from him out of pure reflex and regretted it instantly when she saw his eyes harden before he'd even withdrawn his hand.

He stood there for a moment, the hand he'd touched her with flexing into a fist at his side, then he offered her a quick nod and started for the door. "I'll see you at breakfast, Miss Granger."

Hermione sighed after him, at once relieved and disappointed that he was gone. Seeing as he was actually treating her like he didn't loathe everything about her, she'd begun to think that maybe she could become friends with Severus. That funny feeling in the pit of her stomach didn't feel like impending friendship though.

She was absolutely astonished with herself. It was just one smile for pity's sake! Sure it had been awhile since she'd been with a man… Well, _quite _a while if she was being honest with herself, but surely she couldn't be _this _desperate.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 28 August 2001-Tuesday**

Severus silently berated himself all the way down to the dungeons. Granger's small rejection had stung him much more than it should have. He could not believe that he'd tried to comfort her by touching her. No one was comfortable being touched by him, least of all beautiful witches half his age.

For some utterly ridiculous reason, he'd convinced himself that she was somehow different. He could count on one hand the number of people brave enough to stand up to him when he wanted to intimidate them. The number was hardly higher of those who weren't intimidated even when he _didn't _try. From the first day he had woken, Granger had stood before his most vehement glare and was not impressed. She was a brilliant potions' mistress – brilliant at just about everything, actually. She'd risked her life to save his. More than once.

She was damaged in a way that was far too familiar, and… They'd talked. On several occasions now, they'd simply been able to talk. Like equals. Equals that didn't find one another terribly boring.

What a sentimental fool he was, he concluded as he reached his quarters. "Open," he growled at the portrait. He was actually somewhat surprised that the portrait said not a word to him before swinging open.

He swept inside and immediately began to pace his living space.

He couldn't see what he'd done wrong apart from touching her. He'd listened to her story with empathy – and amazingly hadn't found it a chore at all – and then she'd smiled. Really smiled. At one of _his _jokes. There was a moment there, while they were both smiling, that he could have sworn something meaningful had passed between them. Something that he'd interpreted as perhaps the beginning of an actual friendship. Clearly she'd not felt the same.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 28 August 2001-Tuesday**

Half an hour after Severus' departure, Hermione had returned to her quarters only to decide that she needed to talk to someone after ten minutes of solid pacing. Considering the topic, there was only one person in the world with whom she'd feel comfortable talking.

"Quiddich," she told the statue guarding the Headmistress's office. The gargoyle threw her a snappy salute and leapt aside. She was too distracted to even be amused. She knocked briskly on the door at the top of the revolving staircase. Then she tapped her foot and anxiously twiddled her fingers while she waited for Minerva. She knocked again, wondering if perhaps Minerva was out.

"Come in," she heard at last and immediately burst inside. Where she found Minerva in her nightgown and sleeping bonnet.

"Oh dear," Hermione said at once, snatching a glance at the grandfather clock against the wall. "I'm so sorry, Minerva, I had no idea that it was so late…"

"Calm down, Hermione," Minerva smiled warmly. "I wasn't asleep, and I can see that you clearly have something to say to me."

Hermione nodded, but the words were suddenly stuck in her throat. What on Earth had she been thinking? She couldn't talk to Minerva about this! Upon deciding to come here, she'd thought only that there was only one person in the world that she'd feel comfortable talking to about this. Now all she could think was that Minerva had known Severus much longer and much better than Hermione had. The man was practically a son to her – if not one that she got along with particularly well. Despite the falling out they'd had after Dumbledore's death, Minerva had been a wreck when the truth had come out.

"Why don't you have a seat, Hermione," Minerva offered. "I'll pour us some tea."

Hermione gulped as she lowered herself into a chair in front of the headmistress's desk, struggling to figure out what she was going to do.

Once they tea was poured and first sips taken, there was nothing left between her and the conversation she'd come to have.

"Hermione, dear, you look like you're about to face down a giant without your wand. Tell me what's the matter."

Hermione worried her lower lip with her teeth for a moment, not quite managing a smile in response to Minerva's jest. As she thought about it though, she realized that she actually had faced down a giant without her wand. While not a pleasant experience, she'd survived. If she could do that, it was ludicrous to be so intimidated by a simple conversation.

Sighing with relief as she made her decision, she began. "I was just taking to Severus," she began.

"What's he done?" Minerva asked, an angry glower lighting in her eyes.

"Oh no!" Hermione quickly retracted. "It's nothing that he's done. He was perfectly wonderful, in fact. We had a lovely chat. Actually, it was exactly what I needed. I've been really stressed all summer. It was…" she shook herself as she started to get off track. "He knew exactly what to say," she summed. "Actually, I'm not even entirely certain what it was that he said to make me feel so much better. Maybe just knowing that he understood…"

Minerva's anger had evaporated to be replaced by a glint of curiosity.

"Minerva, it's been so long since I've smiled. _Really _smiled."

And just like that, curiosity was replaced by shrewd intrigue.

"Okay, why are you looking at me in that way?" Hermione demanded, barely aware of the fact that she was presently smiling rather brightly.

"He is perfect for you, Hermione."

Hermione blinked in shock. Was she truly that transparent? Had Severus seen that as well? Was that why he'd touched her? Was it why he'd left so abruptly?

"Oh Minerva, it is positively ridiculous!" she insisted. She'd actually been expecting Minerva to side with Hermione's voice of reason on this one and convince her to forget that stupid smile. "I was his student! He was my patient!"

"Past tense," Minerva noted thoughtfully.

"He's twice my age!" she asserted since she was certain that was the one argument that could not be countered.

Minerva simply waved it away. "A superficial concern. Do you like the man?"

"Well, yes…"

"Are you attracted to him?"

"Yes," Hermione admitted, hating herself for blushing.

"Well, that's all that matters," she chuckled.

Hermione bit her lip so hard she was surprised she didn't taste blood. "But…" she objected weakly.

"Hermione, dear," Minerva sighed, "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you and Severus are extremely compatible. You're both intellectual, organized, precise. I'm sorry, but I don't see you finding a better match among any of the men your own age."

The young witch grimaced at that. The only time she'd ever actually attempted to have a real relationship with a wizard her age had been that brief fiasco with Ron immediately after the war. She'd always liked Ron as a friend, but that was a far cry from being compatible as a partner. Ultimately, it was actually Severus that had driven them apart. While Ron had initially been supportive of her plan to try to cure Severus, Ron had listened to the "experts" and he just couldn't understand why she wouldn't take "impossible" for an answer. Things had degenerated from there.

Of course there had been a couple others since then, but none that she'd ever had any real feelings for. None that she'd truly considered trying to have a relationship with.

When she failed to think of another objection with any real merit, she sighed in defeat. "What's the point, Minerva? I know that there is no way he sees me like that. To him, I'll always be the insufferable know-it-all from his potions class. I know that he feels like he owes me something for saving his life, and he's been kind to me because of that, so maybe we could become friends someday, but-"

"Hermione, don't count yourself out just yet. Severus is an insufferably stubborn, cynical man-"

"You make him sound dreamy," Hermione laughed in surprise.

"But he is still a man," Minerva finished. "Trust me on that. Give him time. Let him see the brilliant, compassionate, funny witch that I see, and he could not help but love you."

Hermione sighed gloomily. "I really feel like I'm setting myself up for an incredibly embarrassing rejection here."

"Our lives are defined by the choices we make, Hermione, and the chances we take. Take yours, or you'll never have a chance at true happiness."

Hermione frowned. "You're starting to sound more and more like Dumbledore. Is it just running this school that makes you speak in riddles, or maybe these portraits always jabbering at you?"

"I have never jabbered in my life," one portrait wearing curlers huffed indignantly.

"Yes, and you're dead," Hermione retorted.

Grumbling, the former headmaster closed his eyes and evidently went back to sleep.

"A bit of both, I fear," Minerva smiled. "It doesn't make what I said any less true."

"I should let you get to bed," Hermione realized. She'd been in there long enough for her mostly untouched tea to get cold and it had been late when she'd arrived.

"You let me know if you want to talk about it anymore," Minerva advised as Hermione rose to leave. "I meant what I said about the two of you being compatible."

"Please just don't say anything to Severus about this," Hermione begged. "I may die of humiliation."

"My word," Minerva nodded. "And try to get some sleep. Start of term is right around the corner now."

* * *

**I expect to post chapter 5 tomorrow. Please keep all of the wonderful reviews coming as they are incredibly inspiring to keep me shirking little things like cleaning in favor of writing. -)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I meant to have this one up a couple hours ago, but I had to argue with some of the characters a bit. I apologize if this chapter isn't quite as polished as previous ones. I have considerably less time to write on the weekends as my daughter is home from school.

**FYI:** The dates accompanying section headings are meant as a general guideline. If more than a single day is addressed within a given section, that date is meant to reflect the day in which the bulk of it takes place, not the first paragraph.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 3 September 2001-Monday**

After the way the conversation with Severus had ended, it seemed almost like he was avoiding her. They still both showed up to every meal – likely with equal intent of pacifying Minerva – but they rarely said more than hello and goodbye at each.

Despite Hermione's conversation with Minerva that night, she quickly found that perhaps Severus' new distance was the better choice. She knew that he would never share her feelings, and the fact that she didn't even fully understand those feelings didn't make anything any clearer. She was attracted to him, there was no denying that, not to herself at least. Not when just sitting next to him at the dining table was making her feel so very warm. Of course, that in no way meant that they could ever actually be happy together, or that they'd even be together.

As the days passed and their interaction remained minimal, Hermione gradually began to feel more comfortable around him as she adjusted to her new perception of him. Minerva had developed an annoying habit of shooting Hermione meaningful glances whenever Severus was around, but Hermione mostly ignored them and evaded the topic whenever Minerva tried to broach it.

She had enough to keep her busy with getting ready for her classes anyway. She had piles of student files to learn, a syllabus to complete, and a ton of little details to wrap up. When she wasn't eating in the great hall, she mostly stayed in her rooms and worked on those things, occasionally going to her classroom to set something up.

At last, the students arrived. In the interest of fairness and professionalism, she did her best to clap when each student was sorted, not just those who went into Griffindor, though she did catch herself clapping a little louder for the Griffindors sometimes. When she clapped for the first Slytherin, she noticed Severus look at her strangely. She just smirked in reply. While there may be more Slytherins that she particularly disliked than the other houses, she was determined to judge the students on an individual basis. Severus alone was proof enough that it was wrong to judge a Slytherin by his house.

Her first class was made up of first years, Slytherin and Griffindor, though Hermione had never understood why those two houses were so often paired together for classes as they were more antagonistic toward each other than any other combination of houses in the school. She'd certainly have been happier in school had she not so often found herself in class with Draco Malfoy. She'd heard that he was an Auror now, of all things. It made her particularly glad that she hadn't signed up for that job along with Ron and Harry.

Just before her first class arrived, Hermione drew the curtains closed and dimmed the candles to give the room a malevolent feel. Then she disillusioned herself and stood at the front of the room, effectively invisible.

She watched the nervous eleven-year-olds make their way into the room, looking around like they were waiting for something scary to leap out and eat them. Hogwarts professors were notorious for eccentric ways of introducing themselves to the new students. The fact that these were in their very first Hogwarts class ever meant that they would be unlikely to know that yet. She wasn't one to disappoint.

Once everyone had filed in and found their seats, looking around uncertainly for their teacher, Hermione flicked her wand to slam the door, causing them to jump and look around nervously. She then cast a simple lumos to light the end of her wand, letting the light show through her disillusionment, which was actually a lot more difficult than it sounded.

The room gradually fell silent as all eyes settled on the floating light. "Light. The first defense against the dark," she said, letting her disilliusionment fade at the same time as the light so that she appeared from behind it. She'd dressed in pure black robes today – reminiscent of Severus' usual attire actually – and her hair was braided tightly back. "In this class, you will learn the true meaning of the dark arts," she continued, her voice quiet but easily carrying over the totally silent class. "You will learn why they are feared. Why they are forbidden. Most importantly, you will learn how to defend yourselves against them.

"Every subject taught at Hogwarts is important," she continued, lightening her tone just slightly, "I would never suggest otherwise. But consider this, if you will… The entirety of the curriculum in this class is made up of learning about things that would kill you without remorse. And learning how to defeat them. Think about that before you allow your minds to wander in this room."

She gave that a moment to sink it, then gave her wand a swish, throwing open all the curtains and brightening the room. "Now, please turn your in your books to chapter one."

Unsurprisingly, the class went smoothly. The first years were still too nervous to get up to any trouble.

Her second class of the day were fifth years, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. She didn't bother with any fancy entrance for them since they would be far less impressed. Instead, she just leaned against her desk and watched them enter, observing the interaction between the students to get a better idea of their personalities and identify friends and enemies that may need to be kept separate, particularly during practice. Friends could sometimes be too easy on each other, while pairing enemies for certain activities could lead to a trip to the medical wing.

There were a lot of students watching her curiously, but she ignored the looks. These kids were old enough to have been in Hogwarts while she was still a student. They'd been here when Voldemort had controlled the school, and they'd most likely heard stories about her at the end of the war.

"Be seated," she said when the last student had entered, flicking her wand to close the door. She waited until the last student was sitting to begin, noticing that the room had split nearly down the middle with Slytherins on one side and Ravenclaws on the other. "Welcome back, fifth years," she began. "I know that I'm the fifth professor you've had for this class, and I know that the material you've studied has been widely varied, from Professor Snape to Carrow and those since that I never got to meet. As such, I'm going to do my best to round out your education. As I'm sure most of you know, I have some personal experience battling the dark arts, and I am familiar with the spells and counterspells that will be most useful to you."

A small Ravenclaw in the back raised her hand tentatively.

"Yes, Miss Holyander?" Hermione nodded.

"Professor, we've heard that Professor Snape is back. Is that true?" she asked, her voice just barely loud enough to reach Hermione.

Hermione smiled, "It most certainly is, though I would highly advise against asking _him_ any questions about that."

That drew a chuckle from the room, though a few of the Slytherins looked insulted.

"Did you _really_ heal him?" one of the grumpy Slytherins asked doubtfully.

She settled her eyes on him. "I did, Mr. Wyrran."

"But you're Griffindor," he challenged.

"That's right," she nodded, then turned her attention to the room at large. "As you are fifth years who've already had plenty of time to make up your own minds, I imagine that this may fall of deaf ears, but I'll say it regardless. House unity and pride is important, respectable even, but it is also important that you don't forget that you are all witches and wizards. You are all students of Hogwarts. Your similarities are greater than your differences."

She looked around to see that little speech having different degrees of impact on the various students. The stubborn Slytherin just twisted a sneer worthy of a Malfoy.

Letting the subject drop, she turned to the material she was actually supposed to be teaching. "Please open your books to chapter four. The first thing you will be learning is _finite incantatem_. While this is not actually a defensive spell, I have found it to be extremely useful in a number of situations to negate the lingering effects of troublesome curses. The broad range of applicable uses is why I have chosen to begin with it."

Third and fourth periods went similarly to her fifth years. After she gave her starting speech she had to answer a few questions, some relating to Severus and what she'd done for him while others were more interested in her role in the war. She answered as many questions as she could since she felt that questions about the war pertained to her class, and the questions about Severus would prove nothing but a distraction until their curiosity was sated. She gave it ten minutes, then moved on to the lesson.

The day already felt long by the time she'd made it to lunch, but she was in a very good mood. Since she was so distracted thinking about her students, she didn't even hesitate in talking to Severus quite naturally when he sat down at her side. "How's your first day back teaching?" she inquired.

He glanced at her minimally and answered in his typical snide drawl. "No one has gone to the hospital wing yet."

Hermione laughed out loud at that even though the delivery had been so deadpan that she couldn't be certain he'd meant it as a joke.

He raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing more.

She spent the rest of the meal conversing with every other professor at the table about how her first day was going. She had nothing but good things to say, praising students and talking excitedly about her curriculum. Truly she'd never have imagined that she'd enjoy teaching so much. It was quickly proving to be the most fulfilling thing she'd ever done – apart from actually succeeding at curing Severus, naturally. Organizing the lessons and managing the students was an interesting challenge, and studying each student to assess exactly how they learned most effectively was already giving her some really great ideas about future techniques and strategies that she would use. Familiarizing herself with each student's personality was another enjoyable challenge.

In fifth period, she started her second years off with some exercises to review the last year's spells. She gathered that the professor she'd replaced had had a very dry teaching style, spending almost all of the time lecturing and giving notes. While she had always learned extremely well in response to that kind of teaching strategy, she was aware that most kids did not. Since her second years had no base of reference for the subject outside of that one boring professor, she wanted to get started by making it interesting.

They responded well to her strategy, talking quite animatedly about the lesson when they left the room.

Sixth period was her sixth years. Sixth year students could only continue with the class if they'd passed their Defense Owls with a high enough score. Considering that the previous professor had not produced a lot of Exceeds Expectations and Outstanding scores, she'd decided to accept all interested sixth years who'd managed an Acceptable. There were still only sixteen students spread between her sixth and eighth periods.

She had to take her first house points in that class, since these older students seemed to be having some difficulty taking her seriously. The fact that she was only about five years older than them was clearly an issue.

"Are we supposed to respect you just because you're Harry Potter's friend?" an obnoxious Slytherin demanded when she'd taken ten points from him and his friend for talking while she was. She hadn't taken points until the third time they did it. The first time he'd given them a warning, the second had been a threat.

"You're supposed to respect me because I am a Hogwarts professor," she came back coolly.

"You're only a professor because you're Harry Potter's friend," he goaded brazenly.

She lifted her wand casually and caught the boy with Incarcerous, binding him to his chair. She then paced toward him slowly, and used a silent hover charm to levitate him and his chair up to her eye level as she reached him. Silent spells were always much more intimidating because they were so much harder to recognize or anticipate. "I am a professor, boy," she said quietly, but loud enough to be heard by the class, "because I have spent the majority of my life fighting the dark arts. You would not last two seconds in a duel against me." Seeing sufficient fear in his eyes, she lowered him back down a little more roughly than she could have and banished the magical ropes just before turning around to walk away from him.

She hadn't taken two steps when she heard him leap out of his chair behind her.

She spun on him just as he was shouting, "Stupefy!"

She easily blocked the spell, even though it was rather well done. "Expelliarmus," she growled, and followed it with a silent accio, catching the wand in her left hand.

The Slytherin stared at her in utter shock while quiet snickers emanated from the Griffindor side of the room. She was something of a hero among the Griffindors.

"Do you realize that I could see you expelled for that?" she growled softly.

His eyes widened further.

"I think I'll leave that for your head of house to decide," she decided. The class was almost finished anyway, she noted with a brief glance at the clock. "Let's go have a talk with Professor Snape. Class dismissed."

The boy looked relieved, probably expecting lenience from Severus. Hermione expected it too, actually, but she was okay with that. The kid needed to be put in his place and reminded that his actions had consequences but he'd only attempted to hit her with a stunning spell rather than something nastier like a painful jinx even though he'd clearly been extremely angry to try something in the first place.

"Follow me, Mr. LeStrange," she bade and led the way out of the room. By the time they reached the dungeons, the rest of the classes were letting out.

"Professor Snape," Hermione called when she entered his classroom. She could hear someone moving around in the storeroom.

A moment later he appeared, looking mildly curious. His eyes settled on LeStrange and narrowed a bit. "A problem, Professor Granger?" he asked with very little interest in his tone.

She handed the boy's wand to Severus. "Mr. LeStrange attempted to Stupefy me," she informed him.

Severus' face didn't change but his eyes hardened at hearing that. It probably wasn't enough for the boy to notice. "Why?" he asked.

"She humiliated me in front of the whole class!" LeStrange complained, evidently expecting Severus to find some justification in that.

Severus turned his gaze back to Hermione.

"I used Incarcerus and a hover charm," she explained mildly. "Mr. LeStrange saw fit to question my merit to be his professor. I was simply demonstrating it. Though I do admit that his own precipitous course of action did allow a far more pointed demonstration," she smirked. She knew that only Minerva would have any hope of preventing the expulsion of any Griffindor that tried such a thing against Severus, but Hermione wasn't quite so vindictive.

"I see," Severus replied thoughtfully. "What would you recommend as punishment, Professor Granger?"

Hermione studied the boy a moment. He looked like he was almost ready to get smug again, convinced that the head of Slytherin would be lenient. "Two weeks of detentions, I think," she offered.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "That seems a bit harsh, particularly considering that his actions led to even greater humiliation in front of his classmates. I should think the lesson half-learned right there. One week of detentions, Mr. LeStrange." He returned his wand to him. "See Professor Hagrid after dinner. I believe the Thestral stalls need mucking out. You're dismissed, but if I hear of you attempting to attack a professor again, your time at Hogwarts _will_ be over."

As LeStrange left gloomily, Hermione grinned.

"What could you possibly be so happy about, Professor Granger?" Severus frowned.

"I've seen the Thestral stalls," she chuckled as she turned to leave. "And I only suggested two weeks," she added, pausing at the door, "because I knew you'd halve it."

She left with a smirk, hurrying back up to the Defense tower for her seventh period class, and all six of her seventh years.

She stacked the extra chairs in the corner and pushed the extra tables against the wall, orienting three desks and six chairs into a semi-circle near her desk, then sat down and read a bit in her book while the students entered.

Once everyone was there, she flicked the door shut, then marked her page and set the book down. Her six students were made up of one Slytherin girl, two Ravenclaws, and three Griffindors. Due to the way she'd set up the room, one Griffindor and the Slytherin ended up sitting next to each other. They scooted their chairs as far apart as the table would allow. Hermione didn't quite sigh at that. She couldn't help but think that the main reason so many of the Slytherins were bullies and troublemakers was because it had become expected of them over the years.

"Okay," she started. "To begin, I'll make a couple of quick announcements, since I've been getting these questions all day. Yes, Professor Snape is back. Yes, I was the one who healed him. Now, are there any other questions before we begin?"

"Did Lawrence really try to Stupefy you?" the Slytherin girl, Emma Prince asked somewhat warily after a moment.

"He did," Hermione nodded, somewhat surprised that even a Slytherin had managed to hear that so quickly. She supposed that that kind of scandal would spread quickly though.

"Is he going to be expelled?" Miss Prince asked as though she hoped he wouldn't be.

"No," she assured the girl. "A week of detentions."

"That's all?" Tryce Nidner, the Griffindor right next to Prince asked, appalled. "For attacking a teacher?"

"I'm not that upset," Hermione assured them all. "Not to say that I think he shouldn't be duly punished for it, but it did give me a chance to teach him an extremely important lesson. It's a lesson that many people don't learn until it's too late."

Her last sentence seemed to confuse all of them.

"Have any of you ever been in a duel?" Hermione asked, "Not a practice duel, supervised by teachers, but a real duel in which you could be hurt or even die?"

She looked at each of them in turn, receiving negative shakes of the head all the way around.

"It's an experience more terrifying than you can imagine," she explained soberly. "It's something that you want to avoid at all costs unless you are _certain_ that you can defeat your opponent. Mr. LeStrange learned that today. While I never would have actually hurt him, there was a second there when I could see in his eyes that he wasn't so sure. And it's really scary to be in a duel and then find out that you're not the better witch or wizard."

"I heard that you dueled Death Eaters when you were in your fifth year," Miss Moor, a Ravenclaw, ventured.

Hermione frowned at the memory. "It wasn't really dueling. It was more like, run and try to slow them down enough that they don't kill you. There was a lot of luck involved, and then of course help arrived. Harry's godfather and some other friends," she sighed. "Harry's godfather died that day, and most of the others, later in the war."

She looked around, but none of them seemed like they knew what to say after that. "Okay," she concluded brightly. "My primary goal for you all this year will be, of course, to prepare you for your NEWTs. However, if we find ourselves with any extra time, perhaps I can see about helping you to prepare for your careers. Do you all know what you plan to do after Hogwarts?"

She got nods all around, some with more conviction than others. "Is anyone hoping to enter Auror training?" she inquired, since Defense Against the Dark Arts was required for that.

Surprisingly, she got nods all around again. "Wow. All of you?" she smiled.

The students were looking at each other. Clearly they had not realized this detail. "We were in our fourth year when the war ended," a Griffindor boy named Seeley Sadler. "I don't know about anyone else, but I really wished I could have stayed for that final battle." The other Griffindors and Miss Prince nodded agreement to that claim. The Ravenclaws looked more uncertain.

Hermione nodded her understanding. "While I am glad that none of you were, I do understand what you mean." She sighed briskly. "Well, that should work out splendidly then. As it happens, I know a couple people who've just finished Auror training. With any luck, I'll be able to pass on some of their wisdom to you."

Eyes got really big around the table as they must have realized that she was referring to Harry. "All right, well, as it is one of the most difficult spells and takes the longest to master, I thought we'd start with the patronus charm."

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 14 September 2001-Friday**

The first two weeks of classes were nearly over. Hermione was falling into the swing of teaching pretty easily. She was getting to know her students, and she seemed to be doing a pretty good job. She'd overheard some students talking about her in the hallway. While some of the comments about her physical charms made her roll her eyes, there were also quite a few comments about her class being fun and interesting that made her all warm and fuzzy inside.

There were none of her classes that she truly disliked, but her favorites were proving to be her first years and her seventh years. The first years were like a book only half written – wide open and just waiting to be filled with all the knowledge that she could impart. They were inquisitive and excited about her subject and they were picking up what she taught even faster than she thought they would.

The seventh years, despite the variation in their houses, were already beginning to become like family to her. The small class size combined with the fact that she could speak more frankly with them since they were older seemed to be affecting them all. Granted, she didn't see Miss Prince and Miss Nidner rubbing shoulders in the hallway, but the Slytherin and Griffindor girls seemed to be getting along pretty well in class. They no longer made the effort to add the extra few inches between their chairs at the beginning of class at least.

Hermione was on her way back to her classroom after lunch when she rounded a corner just in time to see a Slytherin fourth year stick his foot out and trip a Griffindor boy from the same year. Before she could say anything, the boy was nearly run over as he fell directly in front of the potions' master.

A book tumbled from Severus' hand and he just barely caught a potion bottle with a hover charm before it smashed onto the stone floor. He stared at the young Griffindor with one of his famous death glares. "Ten points from Griffindor," he growled, "for your insufferable clumsiness."

Hermione was behind Severus and he hadn't seen her yet. Actually, no one was looking at her with Severus in that kind of mood. "Fifteen points from Slytherin," she said loudly even though the hallway was utterly silent.

Severus turned slowly to transfer his glare to her.

"For tripping another student," she finished, looking pointedly at the guilty party.

Severus turned his head slightly toward the Slytherin boy, then looked at Hermione again, glaring like he was trying to put a hole through her head. "Let's discuss this in my office, Professor Granger," he sneered. He quickly used a silent accio to reclaim the book, then stormed off toward his office.

Hermione flashed a quick wink at the Griffindor, then fixed her face into a glare as she turned toward the Slytherin. "If I catch you doing anything like that again, we'll be going to see the headmistress," she assured him icily. With that, she turned and started quickly after Severus.

A focused gust of wind slammed the door to Severus' office behind her.

She just stopped and stared at him while he continued to glare.

"What are you playing at, girl?" he finally asked, his irritation heavy in his voice. "You spend two weeks avoiding me, then feel the need to challenge me right in the middle of the bloody hall?"

Hermione's brow rose in surprise. "Me avoiding you? If you'll recall, I talk to you at every meal. When you do bother to respond, it's so curt that I'd have to be an idiot not to see that you didn't want to talk to me." She was actually starting to get a little mad now.

That comment seemed to bring him up short. His brow drew down further as he considered it.

"I should probably take advantage of the fact that you are talking to me for once," she acknowledged.

That seemed to confuse him further.

"I'm sorry about what happened before term started," she admitted, feeling at least a bit less guilty now that she'd said it. "I'm not used to… being touched like that."

His brow shot back up in surprise. He didn't seem to know what to say.

"By any man," she added, then realized that she was really close to saying something incredibly stupid so she turned and walked out. The students in his classroom that she passed on the way out made her realize that she needed to hurry or she'd be late for her own class. Glad for something besides Severus to think about, she stepped up the pace.

/\*/\*/\

"Nice try, Miss Prince," Hermione acknowledged while the Slytherin seventh year went to fetch her wand from where it had landed. She'd tried a disarm but Hermione had reflected it back at her.

A flash of black streamed past the classroom door and an idea struck Hermione. Rather than yelling after him, she summoned the memory of Severus waking up and conjured her patronus, which streaked out the door after him.

"Did you just…?" Miss Prince gaped.

"A nonvocal patronus?" Miss Nidner breathed.

Hermione winked at the baffled girls.

A moment later a very annoyed looking Severus stepped into the room, studiously ignoring the little otter hopping gleefully around his feet. "Professor Granger," he drawled.

"Professor Snape," she smiled. "Do you have a moment to help me with a demonstration?"

One eyebrow went up slightly, "Demonstration?"

"Dueling," she explained. "I think my seventh years would benefit from a practical demonstration."

She could tell from the slight narrowing of his eyes that he was considering it, but his face otherwise remained impassive.

"Very well," he agreed at last. "I have a few minutes."

"Wonderful," she grinned, turning quickly to magically push the tables and chairs against the walls to give them more room. "Okay, everyone over by the wall, and be ready to practice your shields just in case something gets away from us."

They looked between intimidated and thrilled at what they were about to see.

Hermione took her position a couple paces in front of her desk while Severus paced quickly to the back of the room, then spun toward her, throwing his cape over his shoulder on the right side to ensure full movement of his wand arm.

"To first hit," she instructed and he gave the barest nod of acknowledgement.

"Expelliarmus!" he started, snarling the word at her.

She reflected nonvocally since she wouldn't have had time to actually say it.

Severus sidestepped a bit and caught the reflected spell on the tip of his wand, angling it away.

There was a slight murmuring from the students.

"Stupefy!" she sent his way before he'd fully recovered from the block.

He blocked it and his eyes narrowed slightly at her use of the stunning spell.

They stared into each other's eyes and Hermione felt the pressure of his Legilimens at almost the same moment that she began to probe his mind, searching for that extra fraction of a second to prepare for his attack.

They exchanged a few more spells in rapid succession while they continued with the simultaneous Legilimency and Occlumency.

"This is too easy," she decided. "Let's try nonvocal."

Again, that tiny nod.

She increased the pressure on his mind just a little. She'd have much less time to prepare against his next strike if he didn't have to say it aloud.

He grimaced slightly and she felt the pressure against her mind increase as well.

Then his wand twitched and she just barely got her wand up in time to block it, not having a chance to reflect it back. His lip twitched with the hint of a smile.

And then she found it, the crack in his defenses that she'd exploited in order to revive him from his coma. She slid into it just a tiny bit. Just enough to sense his surface thoughts without looking at any of his memories, which would be both rude and distracting.

His eyes widened and he came into her instantly.

His speed wasn't enough to overcome her now that she was in his mind. She could sense that he was both utterly shocked and incredibly impressed that she had penetrated his shield. He was also a bit frightened of what she might glimpse in his memories.

She felt the weight of his Legilimens suddenly multiply several times until she grimaced slightly at the pain, and then she felt him slip past her first shield.

And then they were both thinking essentially the same thing. "Oh bloody hell," and "please don't see something you shouldn't."

Deciding that it was definitely time to bring this little demonstration to an end. She decided to use petrificus totalus, lifted her wand to do so, and then at the very last instant, changed her mind and hit him with a nonvocal, wandless Expelliarmus.

Severus was caught completely by surprise. His wand flew from his hand and the force of her spell knocked him back several steps until he stumbled into the wall.

Hermione lowered her wand and withdrew from his mind, turning to her students. She opened her mouth to address them and then a lance of pain shot through her body. Her knees buckled and she cried out involuntarily, her wand tumbling from pain numbed fingers as she landed.

The pain was gone as quickly as it had come – Everte Statum, not Crucio – but she retaliated instinctively, hitting him with an Impedimenta.

"Hermione," he said quickly.

Realizing that he wasn't going to attack her again, she released the Impedimenta while she pulled herself to her feet. She gave him a little nod to let him know that she was okay, then looked at her students with a slightly pained smile. "And that, boy and girls, is why combat reflexes can be dangerous in a friendly duel."

A couple of the students smiled nervously. Miss Prince was staring at her feet. Two of the Griffindors were glaring openly at Severus.

"My apologies," Severus offered, though it was clearly said with great difficulty and reflected very little real apology.

"Think nothing of it, Severus," she replied immediately.

He nodded stiffly and swept out of the room abruptly.

"I can't believe he did that!" Nidner said as soon as he was gone.

"That was clearly outside the parameters of the duel!" Seeley added furiously.

Hermione sighed, "Calm down. I could just have easily done the same to him." She shook her head sharply when they looked ready to protest. "It's true. After you've been in enough battles, you develop reflexes that don't wait to decide if you _should _strike. You just do."

Miss Prince looked up at last and seemed to relax a little.

"I assure you, Professor Snape never intended to hurt me."

"What did he get you with?" Moor inquired.

"Everte Statum," Hermione admitted. "Does anyone know that one?"

"Pain," said Milton Everton, the other Ravenclaw. "It is a quick burst of pain usually used to stagger an opponent momentarily."

"You can see that it works," Hermione smiled.

"It's supposed to be as painful as the Cruciatus Curse," Everton finished with a grimace.

"Nearly," Hermione nodded. "Doesn't quite get there though. And then, of course, the Cruciatus lasts a whole lot longer."

A couple of mouths dropped open and all eyes widened. "You've actually felt the Cruciatus?" Prince gaped.

"Unfortunately, yes," Hermione nodded. "The first time was during the war. I was captured by Death Eaters briefly. The second was early last year. A former Death Eater managed to catch me by surprise. I would highly advise against that experience if you can help it.

"Now that's enough about Unforgivables for today. The entire point of this demonstration was to teach you to duel, so let's get back to it. Nonvocal spells won't be a part of your NEWTs, but, as you saw, they are extremely useful in dueling, allowing you to react more quickly, and greatly reducing your opponent's opportunity to anticipate."

* * *

**I may not be posting again until Tuesday or Wednesday as I am going out of town for my birthday. If I have time, I'll try to get some writing done, but please don't hold your breath. I don't want to lose any fans. As always, a huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and please don't stop now!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **It's getting Fluffy! Slight Ron bashing in this one, but come on people, if he was that great, Hermione would still be with him!

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 14 September 2001-Friday**

After the fiasco with Hermione, Severus changed his mind about going to see Minerva and went back to his quarters for his free period. He was furious with himself for hurting her. Of all the spells he could have hit her with, he'd just had to hit her with pain. As if she hadn't been through enough on his account.

His mind wandered over their duel as he paced his rooms restlessly. When he'd agreed to the duel, he'd been planning to go easy on her. Then she'd expertly reflected his first attack and the duel had nearly been over right there. He had not been expecting skill like that. She'd impressed him with her nonvocals, but he'd still been utterly convinced that she had no hope of touching his mind. When she'd proven him wrong yet again… He couldn't remember the last time someone had penetrated his mind like that. At her age it should have been impossible, but… Well, there was a reason she was considered the brightest witch of her age. She had managed to accomplish the impossible once already by curing him.

By the time the period had ended, Severus knew that he needed to apologize to her properly or he wasn't going to be able to get it out of his head. While the idea of making the apology was uncomfortable for him, he was reasonably certain that she would respond graciously. Of all the things she had grown up to be, he did not believe "gossip" was among them.

He hurried back up to her class, arriving there just as the seventh years were leaving. He mostly just ignored them, but he did notice that they seemed uncommonly interested in him. Miss Prince said hello as she passed, to which he nodded minimally, then entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Severus," Hermione greeted. She seemed to be surprised, but not unhappy at seeing him, which he hoped to be a good sign.

"I wanted to apologize properly," he admitted, trying hard not to grimace at the words though he wasn't entirely successful. "I shouldn't have attacked you, certainly not with that hex."

Her eyes softened. "Severus, truly, I am not upset with you. As I explained to my students, I could just as easily have reacted exactly the same way had I been hit first. It's an instinct bred as we became accustomed to fighting for our lives. A habit I'd rather not break, frankly."

He stared at her a moment, frustrated that he couldn't tell for certain that she meant what she said. "I have a fairly extensive collection of books," he said impulsively. "If you'd like, you could read some of them."

She was looking at him very strangely, so he added, "By way of expressing my apology."

She nodded then, but didn't immediately agree.

"I have many rare books," he continued. "Many not in the Hogwarts library." He could practically see the interest burning in her eyes at that. "Perhaps you could come by my rooms after class?"

She nodded eagerly. "I'd like that. Thank you, Severus."

He smiled a little at seeing how happy he'd managed to make her, then nodded a quick goodbye and let himself out. He scowled briefly at the curious sixth years waiting outside the door, then headed back toward the dungeons.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 14 September 2001-Friday**

Hermione made an effort to close her jaw as her sixth years started filing into the room after Severus' departure. She'd been surprised when he'd apologized to her immediately after the hex, since she wasn't sure that she'd ever heard him apologize to anyone before – well, excluding Voldemort, but that was more of a petition to not be tortured to death than actual regret.

She winced at the memory of that horrible experience, which still haunted her dreams. She picked up her notebook for the class and started going over the lesson plan as an excuse to turn away from her students before they saw something on her face that started rumors about secret trysts between she and Severus behind closed doors.

The fact that he'd come back to offer her a proper apology in private had absolutely stunned her. She was having a terrible time figuring that man out. One day he was being so nice to her that she could almost forget that he was the same man who'd made her potions' lessons her least favorite class. The next he was treating her like she was still his annoying student.

With an effort, she shook thoughts of Severus and attempted to focus on her class. She had only moderate success in that area since they were working on the patronus charm and her happy memory was of the man she was trying not to think about.

Eighth period seemed to drone on for an eternity, but it did eventually end. As she dismissed her students, she was immediately filled with a sense of unease when she realized that she was going to Severus' quarters socially. The only time she'd ever before been there when he was present, she was treating him for poisoning. This was going to be different, she was certain. She just prayed that she didn't say or do anything stupid as she seemed so prone to doing when they were alone together for any length of time. He'd only invited her there to look at his books because he felt bad for hexing her. The fact that he honestly did seem to actually feel badly for hurting her was revelation enough. She didn't need to go reading into it something that clearly was not there.

She dallied around in her classroom for a few minutes, not wanting to arrive too early. Finally, she couldn't stand the wait any longer. She started toward the dungeons, trying not to walk any more quickly than normal.

When she reached the portrait guarding his door, she cleared her throat softly, "Excuse me. I Severus in?"

The woman in the portrait glared at her down her straight, dainty nose. "You mean you don't intend to simply blast your way through me?" she snapped.

Hermione grimaced, "I am sorry about that. I was very worried at the time…"

"Cease, Elizabeth," Severus' drawl interrupted, startling Hermione.

Before she could even register that she knew the voice, she'd spun on him, her wand in hand.

Severus' brow lifted. "Impressive reflexes," he noted in a very unimpressed voice.

She felt herself pale as she returned her wand to her sleeve. "The last time someone snuck up on me…" she shuddered slightly. "He led with Cruciatus."

Severus grimaced.

The portrait, Elizabeth, apparently, smirked at Severus. "So what, pray tell, are the two of you up to on this fine afternoon?" she asked with a suggestive twist of her brow.

Hermione was too busy trying not to turn bright red to respond. Severus had no such compunctions. His frown was somewhere between annoyed and disgusted as he responded, "Let us in or I shall see to it that you are rehung in the sunniest hallway in Hogwarts."

"It was just a question," Elizabeth mumbled as she swung open.

Severus extended his hand in invitation for Hermione to precede him and she did so, struggling to recover from the odd combination of embarrassment at the portrait's suggestion and disappointment at Severus' reaction.

Severus followed her in, waving his wand to light the lamps and candles, illuminating the otherwise dim space.

Hermione's jaw dropped as she looked around the room. He'd changed it since the last time she'd been in it. Previously, it had looked exactly like it belonged in the dungeons and no other place, sparsely decorated in black and little else. While much of it appeared to be the same items from before, he'd changed the colors, which were now mostly earth tones. It was not particularly bright or cheery, but the contrast was astounding. He'd added a few rugs and some tapestries depicting nature scenes devoid of signs of habitation by people or animals.

"This way," Severus said coolly as he brushed past her.

Hermione blinked and hastened to follow him through his quarters. She fell behind a bit when she passed the open bathroom door and noticed the bright, warmly decorated room. The large mirror along the back wall made the space feel larger and the oversize tub sunken into the floor in the middle of the room instantly sent her traitorous mind down a path to imagine Severus using it.

Flushed, she forced those thoughts away and jumped to catch up to where the man was just entering the room at the end of the short hall. His bedroom, she recalled from when she'd helped to clean the rooms out. She followed him inside somewhat hesitantly, her eyes instantly falling on the massive bed in the center of the back wall. The quilt was black and she found that she wanted to run her hands over it to see if it was as soft as it looked. The canopy was black trimmed in a warm brown. It wasn't sheer, but the fabric looked light enough to stir at the slightest breeze – probably silk. The curtains were caught with brown ties around the four corners of the bed.

"Professor," she heard Severus' soft voice behind her and jumped, distracted enough that she'd nearly forgotten she wasn't alone in the room. "The books are over here," he said with a look in his eye that was both curious and disdainful.

Chagrined, she hurriedly turned her attention to the floor-to-ceiling shelves crammed with books that filled the entire wall opposite the bed. All discomfort was forgotten almost instantly as she looked with wonder upon the amazing collection. She'd been present when the books were packed up and she'd even supervised to make sure that they were stored properly to prevent any damage, but she had been so depressed at the time, that she hadn't taken any time to appreciate the collection. Somehow, packing up his rooms so that some stranger could take them and his job had made her feel like she'd never get him back.

Those thoughts flitted along the outside of her consciousness as she devoted herself to her perusal of the collection from which she had been permitted to borrow. Very shortly she'd spotted several that she ached to read, but couldn't begin to choose a place to start. It made her wonder if Severus' offer might extend to more than one volume.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 14 September 2001-Friday**

Severus stood back and watched with silent interest as Hermione's entire person became focused on his books. A tiny smile was playing at her lips but he didn't think that she was aware of it as her eyes flitted from one book to the next.

After several minutes, she stretched up to the extent of her reach to retrieve a book. She opened it immediately and her eyes began to flick across the page rapidly. She read for a few moments, then paced slowly toward his bed, where she sat down. He was surprised that she felt comfortable sitting on his bed, but then he didn't think that she was really paying that much attention to anything in the room at the moment.

After she'd flipped a couple pages, when she didn't seem like she had any intention of moving in the near future, Severus moved to his nightstand and retrieved the book that he'd been reading the night before. He propped up a pillow and settled down against the headboard, then opened the book where it was marked and began to read.

Some time later, Severus was roused from his book when Hermione moved. She didn't get up though. Instead she just turned and lay out across his bed on her stomach, propped on her elbows to continue reading.

His mind wandered against his will as his eyes traced the curve of her back down to her perfectly shaped rear and then down her equally impressive legs. Even with her robes somewhat obscuring her, he couldn't help but notice how incredibly beautiful she'd become. To him, it didn't seem that long ago that she'd been his student, but she was clearly a child no longer. She'd become beautiful and extremely formidable while her personality had mellowed to the point that he no longer found it terribly grating. Like this, both of them reading in companionable silence, he discovered that he was enjoying her company immensely. He may not have even minded it if they talked some, but he didn't want to interrupt when she was clearly so immersed in the book.

He wasn't sure if he'd ever met someone who could take such enjoyment from reading. It reminded him of himself.

She turned the page and Severus forced himself to look at his book again. His thoughts were both dangerous and foolish. Regardless of how much she had grown up, he held no illusions about her thinking of him the way he'd just been thinking of her. Between her fame and beauty, she could have her pick of virtually any single wizard in Britain – likely some of the married ones too. It was absurd to think for even a moment that she might be interested in him.

He found himself then recalling the comment she'd made that morning about not having been touched in a long time. If she had not been touched, he could only imagine that it was due to a lack of interest on her part. Still, the way that she'd told him that she hadn't been touched like that "by any man" made it clear that she thought of him as a man. Obviously he _was _a man, but he'd have expected her to think of him as a former professor first. And he imagined that that would be the most complimentary of the terms that his former students might apply to him.

With a soft sigh, he forced his mind to focus on the words printed on the page in front of him rather than the witch sprawled across his bed next to him.

"This book is amazing, Severus," Hermione said, turning over to lie on her back with her head on the pillow next to him and her body slightly closer to his

Severus looked up and started slightly when he finally took note of which book she was reading. It was one that he'd written before the second war.

"Your conclusions regarding methods to minimize negative reactions when combining volatile components is absolutely brilliant."

Severus blinked at her in surprise. He wasn't accustomed to getting that kind of enthusiastic praise directly. "Thank you," he said uncertainly, "though when I offered to let you read my books, I hadn't actually meant the books I'd written."

She looked suddenly uncertain. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to put it back?"

"You may read it if you like," he allowed, though he was surprised that she would actually want to.

"Definitely," she nodded without hesitation. "I studied everything that I could find on the subject when," her voice caught a bit and her eyes dropped. When she continued, her tone was noticeably more somber. "When I was trying to cure you."

He nodded pensively, "Yes. I studied that potion of yours more over the summer."

She looked at him warily as if she was expecting a lecture.

He sighed. "It was brilliant," he finally admitted, and barely winced at all saying it.

Her eyes absolutely glowed at the compliment.

He grimaced at the expression, "Honestly, Granger, you're not my student anymore."

"I know," she replied quickly and her cheeks turned a rather adorable shade of pink. "You're still the best potions' master that I know," she added, her manner quite a bit more timid than he'd grown accustomed to over the last few weeks.

Even though he wholly agreed with her, he enjoyed hearing it more than he would have expected. He wasn't sure what to do with that, so he brushed it off for the moment. "At the rate you're going, Granger, you'll eclipse me soon enough."

Her cheeks heated a little further. "I doubt that," she admitted, dropping her eyes back to the book in her hands. "Some of what I've been reading here…" her lips thinned and she suddenly looked angry. "I can_not_ believe that it never occurred to me to look through your books." Furious with _herself_, he realized. "I probably could have saved months, even a year if I'd had these in the beginning. But no. I'm not _that _smart. I just packed them all away without even looking at them because, like a complete idiot, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself."

Severus had pulled away from her slightly and turned to look at her more fully as she'd begun to devolve into a fairly impressive rant. At that last though, he had to stop her. "_You _packed my things?"

His question seemed to surprise her at first, then she nodded. "Yes. As I was your healer, that gave me some authority since you didn't have any next of kin. There was also the fact that I was basically the only one who still believed that you may not be gone for good. And of course my friendship with Minerva. The new term was about to start and she didn't have time to see to all of your things. She knew that I would be respectful."

He shook his head. "I should have known that it was you as soon as I walked in."

She frowned curiously at that.

"Everything was meticulously exactly as I had left it despite being stored for three years, and I could discover not the slightest damage to anything."

She nodded soberly, "At the time…" she stopped and shook her head. "Please don't think that I'm crazy, but that was a really difficult time for me. It was about four months after the war ended. You had just been cleared at trial, and, if anything, my progress on curing you had only just reached the point that I truly understood how much further I had to go. Ron had just left. I hadn't been sleeping…" she sighed wearily. "Anyway, it was pretty grim. Everything _had _to be perfect when I packed up your things… Because I had to believe that one day you would be able to get angry if anything was damaged."

"Ronald Weasley left _you_?" he had to asked first.

She seemed startled by his question. "Yes. I thought you'd realized that I wasn't with him anymore."

"Obviously," Severus frowned. "I hadn't thought much about it at all honestly, but I would have expected that it would have been you leaving him."

"Oh," she frowned thoughtfully. "Really, I wasn't even around enough to feel the need to leave him. When we did see each other, we mostly just argued. He wasn't crazy about the fact that I devoted all of my free time to you. I can't really blame him. I can't imagine there's anyone who'd have felt any differently."

"You said you weren't sleeping then," he recalled, steering the conversation away from her love life. "Why is that?"

She let the book close and placed it gently on the bed next to her, then rubbed her face roughly. "Nightmares," she said quietly.

"How long did you have these nightmares?" he asked quietly.

Her hands slipped from her face and she moved them to rest lightly on her stomach. "I'll let you know if they stop," she said, staring blankly at the canopy above them.

Severus grimaced at that. He knew a few things about nightmares. Years of watching Voldemort and the other Death Eaters torturing, raping, and slaughtering the innocents simply for amusement would forever be burned into his mind.

After a few minutes of silence, Severus went back to reading his book. He had no idea what to say to Hermione. There wasn't really any magical remedy for these kind of nightmares, not unless you were okay with having the memories removed. He was sure that Hermione wouldn't be any happier about that than him. As much as it may sometimes sound like an easy way out, simply forgetting would be to betray those who suffered and to lose a little bit of yourself that had been shaped by those events. No, having memories taken to ease past pain was the coward's way out. Hermione was no coward. Griffindor through and through.

Were their roles reversed, he imagined that he would appreciate a few moments of silence to think without someone staring at him, so that is what he tried to do for her.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked after a few minutes. He was definitely not practiced at being a host, but he was strangely not eager for her to leave, so it seemed prudent to at least offer her something to drink.

"Yes, thank you," she replied as her eyes focused on him but she didn't seem quite ready to smile yet.

He nodded and went to the small kitchen in his suite. He used a spell to fill the teapot and to heat it, then put it on a tray with a couple cups and a tin of his favorite tea before returning to his bedroom with the tea tray floating before him.

Hermione was up again, perusing his shelves once more though she hadn't returned the first book yet.

Severus conjured a table at the foot of the bed and placed the tray on it. He began fixing the tea without interrupting her.

"You have an amazing collection," she noted without looking away from the books.

"These are just my favorites," he admitted. "The rest of my collection is in the library at my house."

She shook her head slowly.

"With how much reading you do, I have no doubt that your collection will rival mine by the time you reach my age."

She chuckled at that though he'd said it matter-of-factly.

Since she seemed so distracted, he went back to his book with his tea.

After selecting a second book, Hermione took a sip of her tea, hummed favorably, and then sprawled across his bed once more.

It was a tremendous effort to rein in his thoughts when he started to contemplate other instances in which she might be so sprawled there.

He glued his eyes back on the words of his book and silently screamed at himself for mentally undressing his former student. Still, he couldn't help but think that Ronald Weasley was a much greater fool than Severus had ever before credited him. Who the hell would ever willingly end a relationship with Hermione?

Shaking his head slightly at that thought, the studied the words and finally managed to comprehend the sentence that he had been reading since Hermione had joined him.

They read in companionable silence for some time before Hermione spoke again. "How did you get into my mind today?" she asked, sounding exasperated enough that one would think he'd been evading the question all night.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

She frowned slightly. "Sorry. It's just been bothering me. I mean, I know that you're an exemplary Legilimens, but it has been years since anyone has penetrated my defenses like that, and you did it so quickly!"

Severus made a valiant effort to avoid assigning any other meanings to "penetrating her defenses". He considered her question a moment before finally relenting. "I will tell you, if you will tell me. The only one who has been able to penetrate _my _defenses in the last decade was Voldemort – though Dumbledore likely could have had he ever believed it necessary to inflict that kind of physical pain."

Hermione grimaced and Severus frowned warily. He had not expected his request to be met with resistance considering she'd asked the very thing of him. After a rather tense moment, she sighed, "I was able to pass your defenses because I already knew where to look for your weak point," she admitted, glancing at him warily only after she had said it.

It only took a moment for him to understand what she wasn't saying. And he didn't like the implications at all. "You were nosing around in my mind while I was unconscious." It was absurd for a former Death Eater, but he felt strangely violated by that.

She must have caught onto that because she proceeded to explain in a hurry. "I wasn't trying to invade your privacy, Severus! Truly I did everything that I could to see nothing while I was in there."

He sat entirely frozen, trying not to blow up at her until she had fully explained, just on the off chance that her excuse truly was good. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if her reason for being so nice to him since he had woken was because she had seen something in his mind that had made her pity him. Like the whole rest of the bloody world seemed to pity him.

"Explain," he grated, barely keeping his tone level.

She took a deep breath and released it, sitting up so that she was fully facing him before she began. "The potion that I brewed for you was enough to heal your body. It was not enough to wake you. It was a month after you were fully healed before I could rouse you."

"By entering my mind," he noted warily, wondering if he could forgive her this considering that he may never have woken had she not done it.

"Yes," she said quietly, studying her hands. "Severus, I had no choice. You would not wake. You were…" she grimaced slightly and looked into his eyes again, her own filled with apology and sympathy, "You were trapped in a nightmare. You'd been there so long, I don't think you knew how to escape it."

"What nightmare?" he asked quietly as an idea began to nudge at him.

"Of what happened in the shrieking shack that night. With Voldemort." Her eyes returned to her hands. "The same nightmare that I have every night."

Severus exhaled heavily. "I remember," he admitted quietly.

"You do?" Hermione asked in surprise, her eyes shooting up to meet his once more.

He nodded, suddenly feeling very tired. He'd barely recalled it, and had quickly passed it off as a dream. The fact that it _had _in essence been a dream made that the logical assumption. He found himself shaking his head in quiet wonder as the memory came in greater detail as he thought about it. She'd thrown him against a wall and screamed in his face. It was absurd, particularly at that moment, that the memory was actually turning him on.

His eyes returned to Hermione and he found that she still looked like she was afraid he was going to scream at her.

"You did what you had to do," he told her soberly, finding that he could not be upset with her for her role in rescuing him from that fate. "I have you to thank for my life. I don't believe I've actually said it yet, but, thank you. You gave three years of your life to give my life back to me."

She blushed slightly.

"While we're discussing the topic," he said uncomfortably, "What _did _you see while you were in there?"

"Not much," she assured him quickly. "I swear that I didn't actually try to look at anything. I did notice that your mind seemed to be organized with the secrets most dangerous if discovered by Voldemort being those most stringently protected. Your conversations with Dumbledore, private lessons with Harry, and more personal things… Like Lily. I only saw enough to note the most general context though."

He nodded, relieved. Though he would never admit it, he liked her too much to think of her seeing some of his darker moments.

The clock in the sitting room picked that moment to chime and Hermione blinked, quickly conjuring the time. "Oh," she blinked when she saw that it was ten o'clock.

Severus was surprised as well. He'd spent nearly four hours with Hermione and it hadn't been tedious at all…

"Well, I really should be going," she rallied, getting up from the bed. "Do you mind if I borrow both of these?" she asked hopefully, clutching the books to her chest as though afraid that he might try to snatch them away.

"Such was the basis of your visit," he drawled.

"Of course," she smiled a bit sheepishly. "Thank you, Severus. I enjoyed this very much."

He just nodded since he didn't feel quite up to reciprocating her comment.

"I'll see you at breakfast," she offered before leaving.

Maybe he should have walked her out, he reflected as he listened to her retreating steps, but he still wasn't entirely sure what to make of this strange new friendship between them. When he heard the portrait click shut behind her, he laid back and closed his eyes. Surely this wouldn't last, he decided. He'd undoubtedly do something to make her go back to hating him soon enough.

While his world seemed to make more sense with that rationalization, he didn't particularly like it.

* * *

**Well, clearly I love you guys as I am working on this on my vacation. Hope you guys liked the chapter and I'll try to have another one ready tomorrow. As always, please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **The plot thickens in this chapter, and Harry shows up!

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 15 September 2001-Saturday**

"Good morning, Severus," Hermione greeted as she sat down for breakfast.

"Hermione," he nodded. "Finished the books yet?"

She laughed though he hadn't so much as smirked. "It was tempting, but I thought it prudent to sleep a bit last night."

His lips twitched like he may have briefly considered smiling, but he didn't say anything more as he went back to his food.

Filius soon engaged Hermione in a discussion about some of the more humorous mishaps of their first years and breakfast passed quickly.

Minerva joined her as she was leaving. "I thought a spot of tea wouldn't go amiss, Hermione," the older witch smiled. "Would you care to join me?"

There was an ominous sort of twinkle in Minerva's eye that made Hermione nervous, but she accepted.

The entire way back to the headmistress's office felt to Hermione like she was a student again, waiting to be punished for breaking rules.

"I noticed that you and Severus were both absent from dinner last night," Minerva noted, peering at Hermione over her spectacles while she fixed the tea.

Hermione felt her face flush and rather wished she had never mentioned her feelings for Severus. "There was a bit of a mishap earlier in the day," she tried to explain. Truly the entire thing had been a completely innocent chain of events. "We were demonstrating dueling for my seventh years…"

Minerva's face fell a little as she handed Hermione a cup of tea. Well, if Minerva was going to read into things, then she deserved to be disappointed.

"He offered to let me borrow some of his books by way of apology," Hermione admitted.

Minerva's brow rose at that. "He doesn't borrow books to anyone. What did he do to you?"

"I was really nothing," Hermione sighed.

Minerva looked dubious so Hermione explained what had happened.

"Well, I'm glad he at least had the courtesy to offer a decent apology," she huffed, sounding almost as annoyed as the seventh years had been. "If all you did was borrow a book, why weren't you at dinner?"

Hermione smiled involuntarily as she recalled the previous night. "Well, I only went to his rooms to borrow a book, but we somehow ended up spending almost four hours sitting and reading." It wouldn't do to admit that the entire thing had taken place in Severus' bedroom, so she decided to leave that out lest Minerva get untoward ideas. Truly, she could hardly believe it, and she'd been there, sprawled across those sinfully soft blankets next to the man of her most secret fantasies.

The way Minerva's eyebrow rose, it seemed that she was getting ideas anyway.

"Really, all we did was read and talk for a bit," Hermione insisted. "We discussed books, and talked about the last three years… He had some questions about how I had cured him, so we talked about that."

"That's how it starts," Minerva positively smirked. "Honestly, I can't remember Severus ever liking anyone enough to spend four hours talking. Not since he was a student here at least."

Hermione blushed a bit at that. "So my seventh years are progressing quickly," she commented. She knew that it was an absolutely ridiculous segue, but she could not stand to talk about Severus anymore.

Minerva gave her a knowing look, but allowed the conversation to be diverted.

When she at last managed to escape the headmistress's office, Hermione returned to her rooms and spent a couple hours marking papers before she was finally able to open the books she'd borrowed from Severus. She sprawled across the fluffy rug in front of her fireplace and read the book that Severus had written until it was time for lunch, studiously not allowing herself to think about Severus, the previous night, or her conversation with Minerva.

/\*/\*/\

"Severus, you simply have to show me what you meant when you mentioned Dryke's Felicity," Hermione gushed as soon as she sat down to lunch. "In principle, I understand it, of course, but your description regarding the use of the yellow fly wings has left me a bit puzzled though thoroughly intrigued."

Severus turned to look at her and, while he did not smile, his eyes were warm. "I have the necessary ingredients," he admitted. "If you have no other obligations, perhaps I could demonstrate after lunch," he suggested with very little inflection.

"Sounds perfect," she grinned at once. She was considered a potions mistress herself, but she was of the opinion that the term was far too vague. There were potions masters and then there were Potions Masters. Severus fell under the latter category. The only reason she fit into the first at all was because of her work in potions for nervous disorders. She hadn't yet developed anything like the kind of broad expertise that Severus had. She truly hoped that she might be able to learn more from him now that they were working in such close proximity.

He studied her face with an odd expression for a few moments.

"What?" Hermione laughed self-consciously.

After a beat of hesitation, his eyes hardened a little and he turned his attention back to his food. "Nothing, Professor Granger."

She sighed at his reverting to her last name. "I have asked you to call me Hermione," she reminded him sternly.

"And I will continue to take that under advisement, Professor Granger."

She grinned despite her frustration, "You are a remarkably irritating man, Severus Snape," she informed him, amused and irritated at once.

He glanced at her minimally, but she could have sworn she saw the hint of a smirk on his lips.

Her attention was drawn from the man next to her by a hush sweeping through the hall. She lifted her eyes as a rash of quiet muttering infected the students. It didn't take her long to spot the object of such a reaction. Harry Potter himself strolling down the aisle between the tables.

Grinning ridiculously, Hermione jumped out of her seat and hurried around the staff table to meet him. She wrapped him immediately in a hug despite the rumors that she knew it was likely to cause. She hadn't seen him since before Severus had woken.

He laughed as he hugged her back. "Easy, Hermione," he wheezed after a moment. "I need those ribs in one piece."

She released him quickly. "What are you doing here, Harry?" she demanded, yet unable to do anything about her grin.

"Visiting the new professor, of course," he quipped. "I thought I might join you for lunch if I'm not too late."

"No, of course. I've only just arrived." She quickly ushered him back to the staff table and conjured a chair for him.

He looked at the hard seat skeptically, took out his wand and added a cushion, then sat down.

Harry was quickly smothered in conversation from almost everyone else at the table – excluding Severus, obviously – and they had nearly finished eating before Hermione was able to talk to him again. "Do you have to leave right away?" she frowned. There were so many things she wanted to talk to him about.

"No, I have some time yet," Harry offered. "Maybe we could talk in your rooms?" he suggested hopefully.

"Yes, that would be perfect," Hermione agreed quickly before Poppy stole Harry's attention once more to ask after his health.

Hermione finished her tea – which she'd requested from the kitchen instead of pumpkin juice. Somewhere along the way she'd lost her taste for the stuff – and started to get up from the table with Harry before she suddenly recalled that she was supposed to be joining Severus after lunch.

"Oh my goodness, Severus," she said suddenly. "I'm so sorry. Perhaps we could go to your lab after dinner…"

"I am otherwise engaged after dinner, Professor Granger," Severus replied coldly.

Hermione's face fell as she realized that she'd actually managed to hurt his feelings. "Severus, I…"

"Good day, Granger," he interrupted stiffly, leaving the table before she could say anymore.

Hermione's eyes met Minerva's. The older woman was frowning sympathetically.

"Hermione?" Harry interrupted, reminding her that he was waiting.

"Right, come on then, Harry," she tried to smile, but her good mood was completely deflated. She felt terrible, but she couldn't imagine what else she could have done. Harry was only visiting for a short time. It only made sense that she see him while she could, but she could imagine how it must have seemed to Severus, a man that had never liked Harry.

Harry kept casting worried glances toward Hermione all the way to her rooms, but he didn't say anything, for which she was glad. The last thing she wanted was one of her students overhearing something.

Once they reached her rooms, she left Harry to explore a bit while she fixed some tea, then they settled down on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

"How have you been?" Harry asked softly after a few minutes of silence.

Hermione sighed. She was really beginning to hate that question. If it had come from anyone else, she may have snapped at them to mind their own bloody business. "I've been better," she admitted wearily. "Teaching is good for me."

Harry smiled without looking totally convinced, "That's good. And I see that you haven't killed Snape yet."

She laughed.

"He looked pretty moody at lunch today. I take it three years in a coma didn't change his personality."

She sobered, trying not to get angry with Harry. "Severus has been through a lot, Harry. He just woke up to find that he's missed three years of his life, and then he has to deal with everyone treating him like a hero. You should understand what that is like."

Harry grimaced, "Yeah, I get that." He smirked a little then, "It's still strange that you call him 'Severus'. And you call him that to his face too?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Of course I do. It's his name."

Harry shook his head, "I know that, but… It's Snape!"

Hermione sighed. She didn't even want to imagine what Harry would think if he found out how she felt about Severus now.

"Seriously, though," he added graciously, "I really am glad that he's back. He deserves a second chance, and… Well, so do you. I know what happened to him was hard on you – hard on all of us."

"Severus gave as much as you did in the war. Not his parents, but…"

"The woman he loved," Harry said quietly, staring into his tea.

"And a lot of his life." Her heart ached when she thought about everything Severus had been through, but she knew exactly what he would think to know that she was pitying him, so she made an effort to not think of it. "So how is it being an Auror?" she asked to change the subject.

Harry chuckled quietly, "It's interesting. Kingsley's gone out of his way to make sure that I don't receive any special treatment. He's threatened my superiors so much that they actually treat me worse than everyone else."

That made Hermione laugh.

"Ron thinks it's a bloody hoot when they always make me fetch their tea."

Hermione laughed harder. It felt good to laugh, and it felt really good to see Harry again.

"How's it working with Malfoy?"

Harry sighed, "Well, it could be worse. He used to sneer at me every time I was sent on some menial errand. Then someone slipped Piteous Pigment into his tea. He turned yellow as a lemon!" Harry wheezed.

"Harry!" Hermione admonished even though she was grinning, "You did that at work? What were you thinking?"

"That's the best part. Malfoy went right to Robards and started pitching a fit! Robards told him that he was lucky it wasn't poison and that he needed to be more careful what he drank! He was yellow for two days before he figured out the charm to counter it!"

Despite herself, Hermione fell into a fit of giggles, imagining the look on Malfoy's pointy yellow face. "So how's Ginny?" she asked when the hilarity had begun to ebb a bit.

Harry's eyes softened. "She's pregnant."

Hermione's jaw dropped and then she nearly spilled both their tea in her rush to hug him. "Harry, that's so wonderful! You're going to be a father!"

Harry was still grinning, but his eyes looked slightly wild. "Yeah… I know."

"Well, you are happy about it right?" she demanded.

"Of course I am. It's just… Well, it's a huge thing. I don't ever remember having a father myself. I don't feel at all prepared. Arthur's offered to give me advice if I ever need it. I suppose the Weasley's all turned out pretty well, so he must have done something right."

Hermione wasn't sure that Molly wasn't more responsible for that than Arthur, but she decided not to mention that. She could well imagine Ginny being a lot like her mother in dealing with the children, and Harry would be a big softy, just like Arthur. "So are you going to make a true Weasley family of it, then?" she teased. "Shoot for seven, at least?"

Harry paled at that. "Bloody hell, Hermione. One thing at time! Molly's already talking about us finding a 'big' house to raise our family in. I think she may very well be hoping we have at least ten!"

Hermione chuckled and the silence stretched a bit before she finally asked, "How's Ron, then?" It had been years since she had been with Ron and they'd gotten past their breakup, but they still didn't talk much and she always felt a little strange talking to Harry about him. It always reminded her how very much things had changed since school.

"He's well," Harry shrugged, sobering as well. "He's still Ron."

"Is he still dating… what was her name? Thendower?"

"No," Harry laughed. "That's been over for a long time. He's with Mina now. …and Grace."

Hermione blinked, "What? Two?"

Harry nodded, though he seemed somewhat perplexed by it too. "He's not cheating or anything. They both know about each other. For some reason, they don't care."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. She had a few things to say about that, but she decided to keep them to herself. The last thing she wanted to come of this visit was a fight with Harry about Ron.

Harry stayed almost an hour before he had to go. Ginny had an appointment at St. Mungo's and he had to be there.

When she was alone again, Hermione rinsed out the tea cups, then sat down and stared into the fire, wondering if she would ever have what he did. Minerva didn't think that she'd ever find a good match with a wizard her own age, and it seemed impossible that Severus would ever see her that way. Most of the time they couldn't even be friendly toward each other for a whole day at a stretch.

She tried to read a little, but she couldn't concentrate. Everything she read just reminded her of Severus. She could hear his deep, intense voice in every word of that book. She could almost feel his penetrating gaze looking down on her while he waited to see if she was comprehending what he was saying.

Severus wasn't at dinner that night. Most likely it had nothing to do with her, but she couldn't help but worrying that maybe it did. Could she have really hurt him that badly by choosing to have tea with Harry rather than going to Severus' lab with him?

Of course not, she answered herself immediately. Whatever their strange almost-friendship actually was, there was no way that it affected him that deeply.

Trying to brush off the grim feelings, Hermione focused on her food, ignoring Minerva's questioning glances. As soon as she'd eaten as much as she thought necessary to appease the headmistress, she started back toward her rooms. She contemplated stopping by Severus' rooms just to apologize for canceling her plans with him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She did not want to see that indifferent sneer as he dismissed the apology which could hardly mean anything to him anyway.

She busied herself with marking more papers that night. She was extremely impressed by those of her seventh years. Their grasp on her subject was very impressive. It was clear that they'd all put some real thought into their essays, and the relative ease with which they were picking up the practical lessons convinced her that they all had the aptitude to pursue a career with the Aurors. She was glad to see that. The Aurors desperately needed to boost their ranks after the war. Luckily, the war had made a lot of young people think about a career in that area.

When she finally went to bed, sleep took a long time to come. She just couldn't stop thinking about how happy Harry had been when talking about Ginny. And how _un_happy she was whenever she thought about Severus.

She was pleased to find him at breakfast in the morning.

"Hello, Severus," she greeted with a smile.

He offered a minimal nod in return.

"Would you want to work on that potion with me today?" she asked hopefully.

"I have papers to mark, Granger," he replied coldly. "Perhaps another time."

Despite his phrasing, it sounded an awful lot like "not on your life".

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped irritably, which got his attention fast.

He turned toward her with a glare. "There is nothing 'wrong' with me, Granger. I simply have more important things to do than to indulge your insufferable curiosities."

Hermione's jaw dropped and she surged up out of her chair, heedless of the staff and students watching. "You are a prideful, arrogant man, Severus Snape. If solitude truly suits you better than company then I shall not impose myself on you again."

She left the table quickly before he replied with something hurtful enough to make her draw her wand on the man.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 16 September 2001-Sunday**

Severus stared after Hermione in shock. He'd known that Hermione had changed a great deal, but he still wasn't accustomed to her meeting confrontation with confrontation rather than retreat. While he hadn't meant to be quite so harsh with her, he'd expected his words to make her stop bothering him, not to yell at him in front of the entire school.

He considered going after her, but feared that may end in a duel in her current mood. He then considered going back to his rooms since the entire school seemed to be staring at him, the students whispering behind their hands while the staff stared at him like he'd just sprouted horns. In the end, he decided to do neither. Leaving now would only make everyone think that he was either going after her or that he was so disturbed by her words that he had to flee.

Instead, he just plastered on his most indifferent expression and went back to eating despite the way his stomach roiled. He couldn't believe that his refusal had upset Hermione so much. She had certainly dismissed his company very quickly when Harry had given her a better alternative. Probably she'd already finished all of her grading and plans for the following week and was just very bored. She called him prideful, but her reaction certainly demonstrated that she had her share of pride as well.

For some stupid reason, he kind of liked that.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 16 September 2001-Sunday**

Hermione was still fuming when she made it back to her room. The _nerve _of that man speaking to her like that! Like she was still a first year asking him for extra work! After spending Friday evening with him, she'd thought… It had felt like he saw her as an equal! He'd served her tea like she was a friend.

What had gotten into the man? Surely it couldn't be her tea with Harry. She'd seen that it had hurt him that she'd canceled, but it just didn't seem possible that it could have made him _that _angry with her.

She was still pacing her room angrily a few minutes later when she was interrupted by a huge chocolate brown owl swooping down onto her windowsill where it began tapping away furiously.

Curious about the unfamiliar owl, Hermione hurried to open the window and let it in. The owl swooped into the room and perched on the back of her desk chair, sticking out its foot.

Hermione had barely retrieved the package when the owl batted its broad wings and soared back out.

Looking after it curiously, she opened the package and her heart dropped into her toes when she realized that it was an unfamiliar newspaper. Her hands shook as she opened it slowly, remembering far too clearly what had come of the last unfamiliar paper that she'd gotten.

The paper was obviously French, and a wizarding paper given the moving photographs. The picture most prominently displayed on the front was Fernand Voriette, scowling at her from the page.

Her French wasn't great, but Hermione was able to make out enough to see that the article was about Voriette's mysterious death. Considering that the man was suspected in connection with the dark arts in four different countries and the manner in which he was killed, his death was being ruled as self-defense rather than murder, though it did say that anyone with information about his death should contact the authorities.

Hermione swallowed hard when she got done translating as much of the article as she could. Then she noticed that this paper had a short, handwritten note in the top corner.

_Thank you for tending to that. We need to talk. Meet me at the Hog's Head. Come alone. I'm waiting._

Hermione blinked and read the note again, then looked in the direction of Hogsmead even though she couldn't see it from here. The mysterious stranger who'd sent her the lead about Voriette was sitting at the Hog's Head right now?

She didn't know if she should be afraid or not, but she was certain that she couldn't ignore it. After a moment of hesitation, she jogged into her bedroom and grabbed her small purse from where she kept it concealed at the back of her closet. She thought of it as her emergency pack and took it with her whenever there was any reason to suspect there might be trouble. She always kept it stocked with healing potions, dried food, and anything else that she might need at a moment's notice.

With that in hand, she fastened a cloak around her shoulders she hurried back out of her room, trying to avoid jogging so as not to alarm anyone. She almost groaned when she ran into Poppy in the hall. The healer wanted to talk to her about a new treatment that she was thinking of implementing for students that suffered from anxiety leading up to exams.

Promising to discuss it with her later, Hermione shrugged the healer off as quickly as possible.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 16 September 2001-Sunday**

After breakfast, Severus had decided that it would be an excellent time to gather some of the fresh potions ingredients that grew near the border of the Forbidden Forest. He needed some time to clear his head.

He was on his way back to the castle when he caught sight of Hermione making her way quickly down the path toward Hogsmead.

He thought of keeping his head down and hoping that she didn't notice him, but he needed to clear the air between them – ideally while the whole school wasn't there to watch.

"Hermione!" he called, picking up his pace as he angled toward her.

She stopped at the sound of her name, but she didn't turn to face him immediately. "What is it, Severus?" she asked impatiently.

She was obviously still mad at him. He almost changed his mind and walked away right then, but he liked Hermione too much to not at least try to apologize. He stopped when he got near her and hesitated a moment before saying, "I wanted to… apologize for this morning." He couldn't help but grimace at apologizing to her again.

She glared at him for a moment and he winced slightly, convinced that she was about to yell at him again. Then she softened ever so slightly. "I appreciate that, Severus," she acknowledged stiffly. "I still don't understand why you were so cruel."

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose tightly, "Neither do I," he admitted honestly before he could wonder if he should.

When she didn't immediately respond, he looked at her again and saw her eyes soften a little more. Finally she sighed, "I had fun on Friday night, Severus. I thought it might be fun to work on a potion together. I didn't mean to impose on you."

Severus stared at her in disbelief. "You thought it would be fun," he said flatly, trying to align his mind to the possibility that she truly did enjoy spending time in his company. He'd assumed that she merely wished to learn from him.

"My mistake," she said, her voice cold once more.

"Hermione, wait!" he said quickly as she started to walk away.

"I really do have somewhere to be, Severus!" she snapped, spinning back on him.

It was obscene that he should so enjoy the angry flush in her cheeks. Her cape billowed behind her on the breeze and her hair stirred around her face. She was wearing it down as she didn't do very often anymore. He'd disdained that frizzy mane when she was a child. Oddly, he kind of liked it now. "I do have some time this evening," he offered. "After dinner, perhaps."

She frowned at him. "I don't understand you at all," she complained, then spun around again and started walking quickly toward the gate.

"Will you come?" he called uncertainly after her.

"I'll think about it," she called back as she stepped through the gate, then spun on the spot and disapparated.

Severus shook his head, frustrated. That woman was going to drive him mad.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 16 September 2001-Sunday**

With an effort, Hermione pushed thoughts of Severus from her mind. She had no idea who she was going to meet, but there was a good chance that the person would be dangerous. Being distracted could get her killed.

She apparated into the alley next to the Hog's Head with a barely audible pop, then walked around to the front door, keeping her eyes peeled and her hand on her wand concealed in her sleeve.

She entered the tavern, prepared for anything as she let her eyes wander across the faces of the patrons. Being midway between breakfast and lunch, there were not many people present.

"Hermione!" a familiar feminine voice called, drawing Hermione's eyes to the corner table where a pretty blond witch was waving at her.

Glancing around again for the mysterious witch or wizard she was supposed to be meeting, Hermione reluctantly started toward the corner table.

"Hello, Luna," she nodded. "I can't talk right now. I'm meeting someone…"

"You're meeting me, silly," Luna smirked, pushing a second copy of the French paper across the table.

Hermione felt her eyes widen. _Luna Lovegood_ was the mysterious source? "You?" she couldn't help but gape.

"Join me," Luna sighed dreamily.

Hermione took the offered chair uncertainly. "_You_ sent me the paper that led me to Voriette?"

Luna's smile was serene, "Oh yes. Thank you for seeing to that. Daddy never was quite the same after Azkaban, so I spend most of my time on the Quibbler now."

"I don't understand. Why send that to me? Why not the Ministry?"

Luna laughed crazily, "Oh Hermione, the Ministry would never listen to me. Why didn't _you_ give it to the Ministry?"

That brought Hermione up short. The truth was that she'd never even considered it. She'd been so relieved to have something on which to focus her attention – a worthy cause – that she had never even thought about taking the information through the proper channels.

Luna nodded, "That was my thought exactly."

"What was?" Hermione asked warily.

"It's hard to know who to trust," Luna explained as though she was convinced that she and Hermione were thinking the same thing.

Since Hermione didn't want to admit her true motives, she just nodded agreement.

"I knew that I could trust you, though," Luna continued. "After what you did for Professor Snape, I knew that the Ministry wasn't influencing you."

"How do you mean?" Hermione pressed, frustrated that it was utterly impossible to follow Luna's "logic".

Luna laughed like Hermione was being silly. "Well, of course the Ministry didn't want you to succeed, but you did anyway."

"Of course," Hermione nodded, struggling not to roll her eyes. "Why did you want to meet me today, Luna?"

Luna looked like she'd forgotten about it completely until Hermione had mentioned it. "Oh, right. Of course," she smiled. She reached into her robe where so many witches and wizards kept their wands and Hermione flinched with the need to reach for her own. All that Luna produced though was another newspaper. A muggle one. She slid it across the table.

Hermione looked at it warily. "Luna, I can't take on another crusade right now. I have a job here."

"I know," Luna smiled happily. "D.A.D.A. I was so happy to hear that. You'll make such a wonderful teacher, Hermione."

Hermione blinked at her. Did the girl even hear her? "Luna, I…"

"Don't worry, this isn't like the last one. At least, I don't think so. My guess would be a cursed item, not a dark wizard."

Trying not to groan, Hermione accepted the paper.

"Page E4."

Hermione turned to the page. Obituaries.

"Daniel Kitterwhal."

Hermione read through the obituary quickly, confused and irritated that she didn't see what Luna did. Suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, sure. He had been a healthy man in his early thirties who evidently had suffered a massive aneurism though the autopsy had been inconclusive. "How do you get cursed item out of this?" she demanded, trying not to be too impolite, since Luna had been right once so far.

"It was something that I came across while doing research for an article that I ran last month. Do you remember it? The Goblet of Death?"

"I must have missed that one," Hermione hedged.

"It was a fascinating story," Luna assured her. "One sip of any drink from the goblet and the drinker dies in a matter of minutes. Bleeding in the brain. The problem is that the goblet never seems to look the same twice," she looked a little perplexed for a moment. "Very difficult to track that way, you see. Unless, of course, you know what to look for."

"Luna, perhaps you should pass this to Harry. He's completed his training now-"

"Yes, I heard," Luna smiled. "I was so happy for him. I do hope he can avoid the wrackspurts that infest the Ministry."

Hermoine ground her teeth and made an effort to ignore the interruption. "But why not give this to him?" she pressed.

"Well, I do trust Harry more than the rest of the Ministry," Luna agreed. "I think you're probably more suited to this task though. Harry must be so busy, and you'll most likely need to do some research. Of course, if you do find more, you could send it to Harry. Probably don't tell him that it's from me though. I love Harry, but I find that some people don't always believe me when I tell them things. I know that you will though."

Hermione smiled and hoped that it didn't look pained. "Okay, Luna. Well, thank you for bringing this to me," she hoped that sounded more sincere than it felt. "I'll look into it as much as I can through research, but I'm not going chasing some dark wizard across Europe again."

"I know you'll do what's right, Hermione."

Hermione tried to smile again, nodded, and excused herself as quickly as she could. She decided to walk all the way back to Hogwarts instead of apparating. She needed some time to think. The fact that Luna Lovegood… She wasn't sure what to make of this.

* * *

**Hope you liked and please review. I've been busting my bum to get these updates posted every day!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It took most of a day to put it together! And I had to do research. I hate research! Particularly when my internet is running slowly.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 16 September 2001-Sunday**

When Hermione didn't come to lunch or dinner, Severus realized that she must be avoiding him. Clearly his attempt at an apology had not gone as well as he'd hoped. It seemed that he spent an awful amount of time apologizing to that woman. The malevolent glances that Minerva kept throwing his way certainly weren't helping his mood.

He finished his meals as quickly as he could and withdrew from the scrutiny back down to the solitude of his private quarters. He made an effort to pass the time by marking papers, though he did realize that he was being even less forgiving of his students' ignorance than normal.

When a knock sounded at ten after seven, Severus truly couldn't imagine who it could be. He was utterly convinced that Hermione wasn't coming. Probably Minerva come to yell at him, he reasoned. With a sigh, he went to the door, resigned to let the old witch get it out of her system.

So it was with a martyred grimace that he opened to door to see a slightly flushed Hermione smiling at him.

He blinked in surprise, his eyes involuntarily scanning her from head to toes. She was dressed as she had been earlier minus the cape, her hair still loose around her face, her cheeks pink with exertion.

"Did you run here, Granger?" he asked to cover his shock at seeing her – and his enjoyment at how absolutely mouth-watering she looked.

Her cheeks heated a bit further – it was enough to make him want to embarrass her more often. "Sorry. I was in the library. I lost track of time a bit, and I know how you feel about tardiness."

"Indeed," he drawled, stepping back to invite her in. He did find it annoying. The fact that she'd lost track of the time because she was in the library though, was so very typical of her that he had to fight a smile.

She passed him, leaving as much space between them as possible though he still picked up the subtly divine scent of her hair.

"I didn't actually expect you to come," he admitted, starting toward his lab. "I assumed when you didn't come to the Great Hall to eat that you were avoiding me." He could have kicked himself as soon as the words were out. He couldn't imagine why he felt the need to inform her that she had factored into his thoughts throughout the day.

"Oh, no!" the frustrating witch replied immediately with a frown in her voice though Severus absolutely refused to look at her right then. "A friend asked me to look into some things for her."

Severus hated it that he was so relieved to hear that her friend was a "she". It was absurd. How could it possibly matter if she was seeing someone?

"I spent most of the day in the library after I saw you this morning. I probably should have told you that I was planning on coming tonight. It just slipped my mind."

"Well, I haven't set anything up, but that should take only a moment," Severus allowed as they entered his lab.

"I am sorry for being so short with you this morning, Severus," she said more softly, her hand closing lightly around his lower arm.

He stopped where he was, not sure what to do about her sudden touch.

"I sometimes say things that I don't mean, too," she continued in that soft voice.

He smiled at that and turned to look at her. Their eyes met and he forgot what he was going to say. Her lips were turned up in a small smile, drawing his eyes down to settle on them. He found himself almost overwhelmed with the urge to grab her, pin her body to his, and devour those absolutely succulent lips.

After what may have been a few seconds or a relative eternity, he regained enough sense to move. He turned away from her, drawing his arm out of her grasp. "Why don't you begin warming some water while I fetch the ingredients," he suggested, already on his way to his private storeroom.

Once he was securely out of her sight, he took a deep, slow breath, struggling to clear his head. It seemed utterly impossible that the girl could have that kind of effect on him. Gods, how long had it been since he'd been with a woman? Maybe five years? Of course, Hermione was not the sort of woman that he could spend a night with and forget about. Even had she not been his coworker that would have been true.

Reminding himself sternly that Hermione would probably bed Slughorn before him, he shook all thoughts of Hermione's completely edible lips, and forced himself to focus on the potion they were brewing.

He gathered the materials quickly and returned to the lab to find that Hermione had a small copper caldron simmering over a low fire. She'd also set out a few small knives and a glass stir stick.

He nodded to her, acknowledging her preparations, then began arranging the ingredients on the table. He wanted to ask her how she'd learned so much about potions beyond her sixth year class, but he was hesitant to voice his thoughts. She seemed to become depressed every time she talked about anything that happened during the three years immediately following the war.

Instead, he instructed her to begin peeling the woody hemp stalk while he carefully crushed the Boom Berries with the flat of his blade, collecting the expelled juice and dropping the juiced berries into a small jar. He would dry them later and save them for other potions.

When he was done, he very carefully strained the juice of the smallest traces of pulp. He couldn't help but notice Hermione watching him work whenever she could spare a glance from her own task.

"Are you waiting for me to make a mistake?" he finally asked.

"Just watching the master at work," she quipped with a smirk in her tone.

He didn't let himself look at her since he had some idea of what that smirk did to him. "I would scold you for not paying attention to your own work, but I don't suppose you could mess that up." As soon as the words were out, he was wondering if another apology was going to be necessary.

He glanced at her warily and was surprised to find her grinning. "What is so funny, Granger?" he asked, frustrated by his inability to anticipate her reactions even if he was relieved that she didn't seem upset.

"I remember being your student, Severus. I know a compliment when I hear one," she chuckled.

He huffed annoyance, but it was only to cover his smile.

She finished husking the hemp and slid it carefully into the simmering water, stirring it twice clockwise before leaving it to soften and begin breaking down.

He slid a jar of Bellweave spiders toward her.

She uncapped the jar and immobilized them before selecting two. She capped the rest and then carefully began to disassemble the spiders, shedding their legs right at the top joint and dropping them into a small vial. Then she removed the eyes without puncturing one and put those into a tiny pile before carefully splitting the exoskeleton and removing the entrails. The exoskeletons would not be used in this potion.

"You never did tell me how you were able to enter my mind on Friday," she noted quietly while she worked.

Severus hadn't even realized that he'd never fulfilled his side of their bargain to share that information. After what she'd told him, they'd both been entirely diverted. He very carefully sliced a thin sliver of antimony before answering. "You left yourself vulnerable when you penetrated my mind," he replied.

"How so?" she asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

He shook his head slowly, slicing another fine sliver. "It is fairly common. Legilimency and Occlumency are closely related, requiring similar concentration. When you increased your focus to enter my mind, the strength of your shields weakened slightly. I was able to force my way through your outer defense."

She'd tensed when he'd begun explaining. Now she was chewing on her lower lip, her brow furrowed with concern, which he took to be a sign of wisdom. The ability to protect your mind could quite literally save your life.

"It is possible that you were only so careless because you were facing me," he offered. While he knew that Hermione wouldn't want him snooping around in her thoughts, he was sure that she knew he would never deliberately harm her. She wouldn't have asked him to help her with that demonstration if she hadn't believed that. Simply believing that you weren't in real danger could soften such defenses. He wondered if that could be the cause for his own lapse.

Hermione nodded and relaxed slightly. "How can I make sure that it doesn't happen again?"

Severus sliced a third and final shaving before returning the antimony to its jar. "There are ways. Some slightly less unpleasant than others." He reached for the jar of yellow flies. "The best is simply to practice extending your mind without leaving it unprotected. It is not easy, but considering that you do a fair job already, I think you could master it without too much difficulty. Of course, the true challenge comes when you must do it under duress."

She nodded thoughtfully and opened her mouth but closed it again without speaking.

Severus couldn't help but wonder what she wasn't saying. Perhaps she had considered asking for his help as he'd once tried to help Harry learn Occlumency. While Severus would have loved to work with her on it, he didn't think it would be a good idea, and was glad she hadn't asked. He'd welcome the excuse to spend more time with her – yes, he could admit that much to himself – but he didn't want to risk her seeing something in his mind. There were many terrible things there, but he feared more than anything that she might catch a glimpse of the way that he saw her now. Or worse, he might see how she truly viewed him. His imagination was bad enough.

"Okay, this is the part that I wanted to see," she said, suddenly sounding excited as he tapped a few immobilized flies out of the jar.

He considered the eager glint in her eyes for a moment, then offered the knife to her.

She grinned, making the offer entirely worth it, and accepted the knife. She took a deep breath and took his place by the table when he stepped back. "I just need to sheer off the wings, right?" she asked warily. "Nothing more tricky?"

He chuckled softly, "No, Hermione. Nothing tricky."

She stared at him strangely and he wondered if she'd ever seen him laugh before. Surely he didn't often have occasion to do it. Fearful of another awkward moment, he refocused his attention on the flies.

After a moment, she followed suit, carefully removing the wings from the four flies. She had a remarkably light touch. Working with insects was always a challenge since they were so small and delicate, but she didn't ruin even a single wing.

He found himself struck again by how she could have gained such skill in such a short time, and when she wasn't even formally apprenticed to a proper master.

"Now what?" she asked, worrying her lower lip again in a way that he didn't let himself examine too closely.

"Now we brew," he noted, moving around her to the caldron. "You stir while I add the ingredients."

She grinned nervously as she picked up the stir stick. She inserted it carefully into the caldron almost to the bottom, then waited while he gathered the spider eyes. He dropped the first one in and she began to stir clockwise. Her lips moved as she silently counted three seconds per revolution, one revolution per eye.

After the last eye was in, she completed the final turn, then reversed direction and halved the speed. Severus carefully slid the slivers of antimony into the caldron and watched as her continued slow strokes turned the potion faintly green.

While she continued to stir, he carefully measured out four milliliters of newt's blood and stirred the spider entrails into it. Just as Hermione was beginning the sixteen, one-second clockwise rotations, he began trickling the mixture into the potion. The color began to darken, settling into a dark crimson as she completed the sixteenth rotation and slowed down to one turn per ten seconds.

Severus found himself smiling as he began to slowly sprinkle in the powdered silverweed. "The book calls for one rotation per eight seconds," he noted quietly.

"The book is wrong," Hermione smirked.

Severus chuckled quietly, working to keep his hand steady as he did, "I never thought I'd hear those words from your mouth, Miss Granger."

She bit her lip through grin, "Don't make me laugh, Severus!" she scolded, clearly trying to focus on the long, smooth strokes.

Severus pinched his lips together to keep from goading her intentionally, though it may have been worth it to see the look on her face if she ruined the potion now because she was laughing.

"Now for the wings," he instructed as she completed the ninth turn.

She removed the stir stick carefully without interrupting the gentle spinning of the potion and Severus tapped the caldron lightly with his wand, erecting a light, invisible barrier of air around the top lip. Then he reached up to the extent of his height and began carefully sprinkling out the wings so that they floated gently down toward the potion.

"That's amazing," Hermione breathed as they watched the wings take on a dark blue hue as they were saturated with the potion's fumes before settling onto the surface and slowly being pulled down into it by the continuing swirl of Hermione's previous stirring.

The potion began to turn purple, growing darker with each wing that landed. When the last had been submerged, Severus pointed his wand beneath the caldron and lowered the flame to a very gentle simmer. It would have to go like that for twelve hours before it was completed.

When he looked at Hermione again, she was grinning at him. "That was incredible," she declared with a passion that matched his own regard for potions' making.

Despite not wanting to damage her good mood, Severus finally had to ask, "Where did you learn such skill with potions?"

Her smile slipped away, but she didn't look too depressed, for which he was glad. "A lot of reading," she admitted. "Literally hundreds of books. Just about everything I could find with any hope of being reputable. Most of it was fairly useless, being either too vague or not leaving any room for adjustment. A few were particularly helpful."

"You don't learn technique like yours from books," he pointed out.

She nodded agreement and her eyes became distant. "I worked with potions' masters whenever I could, to learn some of the finer techniques – few for more than a week at a stretch, I'm afraid. I had to threaten a few of them to get them to help me."

"Dekkison Darwhal," Severus recalled, then explained to her questioning look. "I saw an article in an old Prophet."

"Him, I had to bribe _and_ threaten. I bribed him with some Avendula blossoms. When he tried to claim that they were worth less than they were, I cited my connections at the Ministry and threatened to expose his smuggling activities…" she shook her head. "He tutored me for almost a week, but, in the end, he took my threat personally. I ended up dueling him. He walks with a limp now."

"Were they all like that?" he asked quietly after a moment.

She shook her head quickly. "Oh no. Slughorn gave me lessons from time to time, free of charge. A favor for Dumbledore, he called it. I even spent a few days with Piers Presson."

Severus' brow rose at that. "Isn't he still the Ministry's potions' master?"

Hermione nodded. "He was very keen to tell me that he had more important things to do. It took Harry threatening to give an interview to the Prophet regarding Piers' unwillingness to help to cure a war hero before he finally relented, and he was surly the entire time."

"Do you have any happy memories from those years?" Severus asked warily.

Her frown deepened and she seemed to actually consider the question. After a moment, she shook her head, "Few. None particularly worth mentioning."

"Why did you really do all of that for me, Hermione?"

"I told you…"

"You gave me a reason," he countered. "Perhaps part of the reason. I know better now."

She sighed unhappily. "Has no one ever told you to not ask questions to which you do not want to know the answer?"

He raised an eyebrow and waited, prompting her to glare at him.

"I was inspired by what you did throughout the war, Severus," she finally admitted grudgingly. "I was humbled by it. You gave as much to the war as Harry did. If not more."

Severus grimaced. He definitely had not wanted to hear that. Though he'd mostly expected it to be something along those lines, he hadn't quite expected "inspired and humbled".

"Damn it, Granger, you don't understand anything. Everything that I did… It wasn't enough to make up for what I did before – for the people who died because of my actions. Long before Lily. Don't forget that I was a Death Eater by choice long before I was a spy!" He knew that he shouldn't let it get to him so much, but he was truly becoming angry now.

"No one is perfect, Severus!" she came back heatedly. "Everyone makes mistakes! It's not your fault that you were young and impressionable during Voldemort's rise. It wasn't like in the Second War when everyone knew what he was and what he would do. He was incredibly charismatic-"

"You know nothing!" he shouted at her. "You're just a child! Don't talk about it as though he understand anything!"

He turned away from her, unable to look at her face any longer. Her attempts to absolve him of his guilt cut particularly deeply. It was awful to think that she thought so highly of him that she was willing to forgive what he had done when he could never forgive himself. To think that she knew so little of him as to forgive in ignorance was even worse.

He was expecting her to leave or perhaps to say something more. He was not expecting to feel her hand on his shoulder, pulling in an attempt to turn him back to her.

He fought her hold, trying to shrug her off without being too violent. Then suddenly, her pull became a push. Her shove spun him around as her grip had been unable to and he felt his back hit the wall. Before he could even adjust to what she'd done, she was right in front of him, one arm digging into his chest as she held him there.

She stared into his eyes intensely, saying nothing.

Severus returned her stare, shocked and angry at the fact that she had physically shoved him and incredibly aware of her small, strong body almost pressed against his. He waited for her to yell at him, but she said nothing.

Her chest was heaving as much as his. The pressure behind her arm ebbed slightly and her body sagged just enough that he could feel the slight contact of her breasts against him every time she took a breath.

His eyes fell to her lips, slightly parted as she breathed, and reason abruptly left him. He crushed his lips to hers, pouring all of his pent up anger, fear, and frustration into a bruising kiss.

The sexiest little moan bubbled up in her throat as her arm moved him his chest and her fist tangled into the hair at the nape of his neck possessively. Her other hand snaked around under his arm and slid up his back.

Severus lost himself in the heat of her kiss, his arms moving to crush her body to his. One hand secured her face to his while the other slid down her shapely back to the luscious curve of that arse that he had been admiring almost since first waking up.

And then, for some reason, it hit him. He was snogging Hermione Granger. He tore himself away from her and quickly turned so that she wouldn't see the regret in his eyes at ending that amazing kiss. He was pretty sure that he'd never been so thoroughly aroused in his life, and if he'd let it go on a moment longer… He wasn't sure what would have happened when she came to _her _senses.

He laid his hands flat on one of his worktables and let it take some of his weight. "I'm sorry," he said hoarsely, certain that she had to be wholly regretting the entire thing about now. He wasn't sure why she had kissed him back in that moment except that he had caught her so by surprise that she'd reacted to the kiss without considering who she was kissing.

"Severus," she breathed, her tone pained.

"Perhaps now would be a good time for you to leave," he suggested. He couldn't deal with her pity right now, and she would be the sort to be making excuses for his behavior.

For a moment, he heard nothing behind him and wondered if she was about to say something terrible. Then, blessedly, he heard soft steps retreating. "Goodnight, Severus," she said quietly, and then he heard her leave the room, her steps seeming to echo throughout his quarters, each one bringing him closer to the solitude that he was so dreading.

And then he was left alone in his rooms with the haunting memory of her hands on his body, her taste still lingering in his mouth.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 16 September 2001-Sunday**

Hermione didn't remember walking back to her rooms. She lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, still fully clothed. All she could think about was that kiss. That… utterly amazing kiss. For the few seconds that it had lasted, it could not have been more perfect. She just wished that it hadn't ended so abruptly. She wished that she knew what Severus was thinking right then.

He'd initiated it and he'd ended it. What was she to make of that? Did he want her or not? Had it been bad for him? She didn't have all that much experience in that area. Even with Ron, the first few weeks had been filled with passion trying to smother grief, and then she'd become obsessed with Severus, and all intimacy had fallen off from there. With the others since… Well, it had been mostly just heat.

She fell asleep some time in the early hours of the morning with those thoughts still turning in her mind.

/\*/\*/\

The nightmare began as always. The shrieking shack. Voldemort. Severus. Nagini. Her own uncontrollable sobbing unheard by anyone else.

Then something changed. Her eyes were drawn to Nagini where the snake revolved slowly in her enchanted cage. The snake seemed almost to glow for how intense her focus upon it was.

And then it hit her. It was like Severus' dream. His focus upon the snake had been nearly absolute, split only by Voldemort, whose every word further alluded to his intention that Severus never leave the shrieking shack alive.

Hermione tore her eyes from Nagini and they settled on Severus. She was shocked to find him looking directly at her. That had never happened before. His eyes were pained as he watched her.

Voldemort, continuing exactly as he had when this nightmare had been real, began to move Nagini toward Severus.

"No!" Hermione screamed her denial of watching him be almost murdered again. And suddenly she could move. Breaking with what had really happened, Hermione launched herself across the small shack. She barreled into Severus, wrapping her arms around his neck while her momentum threw him to the floor, away from Nagini.

Hermione wrapped herself around Severus, holding him as tightly as she could, her eyes pinched shut while she waited for Nagini to attack them both.

Severus' strong arms coiled around her. "Shhh, Hermione," he murmured into her hair. "Shhh. It's okay."

She opened her eyes and realized that they were no longer in the shrieking shack. Voldemort and Nagini were gone. She was curled in Severus' lap on his bed in Hogwarts.

"What happened?" she breathed unsteadily, trying to realign her mind to the change of circumstance.

"It's only a dream, love," he said softly before pressing a gentle kiss to her temple.

Hermione huffed a quiet laugh. "A dream," she agreed. A very good dream, for a change. She didn't know how long it could last, but she resolved to take advantage of every moment that she was allowed. She snuggled more fully into his embrace, resting her head against his shoulder while she caressed his neck with soft fingers.

"You are a terribly confusing man, Severus," she informed him quietly as thoughts of their real-life kiss filled her mind once more.

He chuckled in that quietly sexy way that he had. "That's funny. I was just thinking something rather similar about you."

"I wish that I could stay here forever," Hermione admitted quietly, wondering when she would be woken by her alarm.

"As do I."

She smiled softly. Severus was remarkably agreeable in her dream. Strange that she would imagine him that way, but perhaps it was just wishful thinking in overdrive.

His calloused fingers touched her jaw softly, gently encouraging her to look at him. When she lifted her face, his lips met hers in a painfully tender kiss. "I had to do that once before I wake up," he said quietly.

Now her words were coming out of his mouth. She smiled into his eyes…

/\*/\*/\

Hermione nearly threw her alarm across the room when it woke her. After a moment to catch her breath, she decided that a nice cool shower was absolutely necessary before she saw Severus at breakfast. If he even came to breakfast after last night…

With a sigh, she pulled herself up, frowning at her wrinkled, sweaty robes, and started toward her bathroom.

* * *

**Ah, school is a wonderful thing. I had a lot of uninterrupted time to work on this yesterday. As always, I look forward to reading your reviews. I'm only running about a chapter ahead of what I'm posting each day, so if you have a suggestion let me know and I might work it into the plot down the line.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **I didn't have a lot of time to polish this one up for you, so hopefully it's up to the standard you've come to expect.

**Content Warning:** This is the one you guys have been waiting for. **Smut ahead**. While I tried to keep it tasteful, it is rather graphic. If that's not your thing, think long and hard *ahem* before continuing. But who are we kidding? Who doesn't like some good "clean" smut? **Mind the M rating.** It's not just there for kicks!

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 17 September 2001-Monday**

Hermione arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, now clean and feeling rather refreshed. She'd opted for black robes, as usual, but these were trimmed in a rich violet that made her feel a little bit pretty but still professional. Her step faltered though when she saw Severus in his usual seat right next to hers. She truly had not expected him to be here. After the way he'd dismissed her from his lab, she'd expected him to be avoiding her. Then again, perhaps he'd been counting on the same.

Struggling to remain outwardly neutral, Hermione slid into her seat. Her intense peripheral focus on the man next to her allowed her to observe him tensing slightly. Oh yeah, he definitely hadn't expected to see her this morning.

"Good morning, Severus," she offered, since it was her customary greeting, and she was trying to act like everything was entirely normal. Like the best dream she'd had since the war hadn't featured him less than an hour ago. Like they hadn't hit second base in his lab last night. Like she didn't want to scream at the man, demanded to know why he'd kissed her, and if it would be possible to make him do it again.

"Granger," he replied, only slightly more stiffly than normal.

They didn't speak any more throughout the meal, and Hermione found that she was grateful for it. Severus, it seemed, wanted to forget that anything at all had happened between them. While she didn't necessarily _want _that, she kind of figured that it was the best she could hope for under the circumstances. So, while she burned with the desire to talk to him about what had happened, she held her tongue. If she just gave it a little time, she was pretty sure that they could put the whole thing behind them. It broke her heart, but she was sure that it was for the best if she wanted any shot at being his friend.

Focusing on her classes all day was more effort than it should have been. She knew that her students deserved her entire focus, but it turned out that she was human after all. Everything seemed to remind her of Severus today. He turned up for lunch and dinner as well. While she was tempted to sneak down the kitchen or take the meals in her room, _that_ was no way to pretend that nothing had happened between them.

Despite her very adult resolutions however, every time her arm came close to brushing against his at the dining table she felt her whole body heat up like she was a silly teenager with a crush. It was infuriating!

As the week continued, Hermione found herself struggling to focus on her task for Luna in order to avoid thinking about Severus and hopefully retain some of her sanity. She spent all of her free time in the library, pouring through book after book from the restricted section in an effort to locate Luna's "Goblet of Death".

When she saw Severus at meals, she found the tension between them gradually beginning to ebb. It made her wonder if he felt it too, though probably not in quite the same way. She really did try not to think about what their lustful kiss might now look like through his eyes. She tried not to think about it through her eyes either, as that usually led to the necessity of a chilly shower. When they happened to pass in the halls, it was usually with and nod and a murmured "Severus/Granger" being exchanged.

It was late Friday evening, while pouring through yet another book, that Hermione finally found it. She'd been reading through so many books that she'd actually stopped expecting to find anything. The research had become just something to distract herself rather than an actual search.

There was no picture. Just a single page in an ancient text about cursed objects that had been lost or destroyed centuries ago. It was called Bledrun's Last Drink rather than the Goblet of Death, which didn't really surprise her. When the _Quibbler_ did get something right, it was usually wrong by some degree. She scanned the page quickly, working to commit every word to memory. While it didn't prove Luna's theory, it certainly corroborated.

The goblet evidently did change form, transfiguring itself in moments to copy any drinking apparatus that it was placed next to. The original form of the goblet was unknown. It had reputedly been used to assassinate more than one notable official of its day, but was eventually lost. Some believed that it had been destroyed while others assumed that it truly had been lost, mixed in with some dishes that someone had stored away and forgotten.

She read over the page twice more before she was thoroughly convinced that she'd taken as much from it as she could. Considering how old and obscure it seemed to be, she doubted that she'd find it in another book there, so more research was moot.

Now she just had to figure out what to do with what she'd found. Upon reading the obituary again, Hermione was convinced that Luna's hunch was possible, and the eccentric witch had been right about Voriette. She felt that it deserved more consideration, but she definitely didn't have enough to send to the Ministry and actually expect anything to be done about it. The last thing she wanted was for the _Prophet_ to get hold of a tip that Hermione had become some kind of nut preaching insane theories and expecting something to be done about it.

She woke from the same old nightmare Saturday morning and tried not to dwell on it as she got ready for the day. As she had done every day for nearly a week, she put an effort into not thinking about her one happy dream or lamenting that it had not come again. That, she was sure, had been a product of a very ill-fated, though utterly unforgettable kiss.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 21 September 2001-Saturday**

Severus found himself watching the young witch next to him as she sat down at his side. For the first time in nearly a week, she didn't seem to even notice his presence. He found himself surprisingly disappointed at the sudden lack of attention, even if he had been constantly uncomfortable under her subtle scrutiny.

After waiting a couple minutes to see if she would offer the usual pleasantry, he realized that she wasn't going to. "Good morning, Granger," he offered instead.

"Good morning, Severus," she replied automatically. She didn't look at him or otherwise acknowledge that she was speaking to him at all. Her brow was slightly furrowed and she occasionally moved her lips as though muttering to herself though he couldn't hear anything even as close as he was. She certainly seemed concerned about something, and he was certain that it wasn't him for once.

"Are you okay?" he finally had to ask. He'd meant to speak quietly so as not to alert the whole table, but it came out softer than he'd expected.

She finally turned to look at him, surprise in her rich brown eyes. He wasn't certain if it was his question, his tone, or the mere fact that he was talking to her that surprised her the most. They hadn't actually spoken anything but pleasantries to each other since… Since that damnably foolish kiss.

"I was just thinking," she replied obscurely.

When she seemed on the point of dismissing his existence again, he decided that it was going to be necessary to push her a bit. "The subject, I gather, is a secret," he said just as dryly as he could manage.

She focused on him again with an adorable little frown. "No."

Severus couldn't decide if he was more amused or frustrated by her evasion since he honestly didn't think that she was doing it on purpose. She was simply so distracted that she wasn't paying enough attention to him to pick up on the fact that he was trying to get her to tell him more. "Do you mean for me to drag it out of you word by word?" he asked, his tone conveying his confused emotions.

She seemed surprised by his question, as though she'd thought their conversation over. It took her only a moment to recover. "I'm doing some research for a friend," she finally explained. "It has turned up something rather interesting. I'm pretty sure it's nothing though."

And then she turned away from him again, going back to her food with that thoughtful frown pinching her brow once more.

He allowed her to eat then, trying to focus on his own food.

"How are you coming with the books you borrowed?" he finally asked, determined to try to get past Sunday night. Apart from anything else he might feel for her, the irritating woman was the only friend he had right now.

Her brow rose as she looked at him, "I haven't really had time to read them this week," she admitted. "I've been terribly busy. Do you need them back?"

"Not at all," he assured her, surprised that she hadn't read them. She'd seemed so excited about them that she'd read a good portion before she'd even left his rooms that night. Then the next day she'd come to him talking about something that had been near the end of one of them. Now, a week later she hadn't even picked them up again.

Hermione Granger avoiding a book was just odd. It made him wonder if he was the cause. Probably he was giving himself too much credit, but she clearly thought something of their kiss as there had been such tension between the two of them ever since. He was convinced that the tension, at least, had been mutual.

She went back to ignoring him after just a small smile to acknowledge what he had last said. Upon observing her, he didn't think that he was the cause of her strange mood today. Apart from the fact that she was so effortlessly ignoring him, she seemed to be ignoring everyone else as well.

She finished eating quickly and left the table without a parting pleasantry to anyone, even when Minerva spoke to her. Severus watched after the young witch for a moment, wondering if he had destroyed any real chance at friendship when he'd kissed her.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 21 September 2001-Saturday**

Chasing an idea that had struck her during breakfast, Hermione went directly to the library from the Great Hall. She sifted through the restricted section until she found the book that she needed. She'd come across it earlier in the week but quickly passed over it as it had little about actual artifacts.

She opened it now and scanned through the pages until she found what she wanted. She read over it several times, then closed the book and hurried back to her rooms. Grabbing her purse and cloak, she left Hogwarts.

Once beyond the wards, she fished in her purse, using an accio to retrieve the map that she wanted, then unfolded it and scanned it carefully. Once she'd found what she wanted, she turned on the spot and disapparated.

Hermione arrived with a louder than usual crack of sound and a slight stumble at the unfamiliar location. She looked around warily, her hand gripping her wand in her sleeve reflexively. She seemed to be in the right place. A smallish but ancient cemetery. In the distance she could see the forlorn shapes of run-down buildings that had once made up a thriving port town. There was little left to it now, but it looked like the cemetery was still used as she could spot a recently dug grave nearby.

"_Quaere_ Kitterwhal," she whispered to her wand before sending off the simple tracking spell. She quickly moved to follow the smoky trail through the cemetery, jogging between rows of crypts and trying not to step on any graves. Finally, the trail ended with the smoke swirling its way around the name Kitterwhal where it was engraved above the door on one of the larger crypts before dissipating.

Hermione worked to slow her breathing as she looked at the crypt before her. She needed to get back to running again. Just because she was now less likely to find herself running for her life didn't mean that she should let herself get complacent.

"Constant vigilance!" she barked quietly and chuckled at herself. Those were words she'd come to live by over the last four years or so. Moody had been right about that.

With that in mind, she disillusioned herself before opening the lock on the crypt with a quiet _Alohamora_. It was dark inside and she neither saw nor heard anything, so after a moment, she cast a _Lumos_ on her wand. What it revealed was not surprising. Cold stone walls and floor, a little dust, and rows of tombs lined up against each wall. Seven in all, with space for three more. The oldest dated back over two hundred years.

She found the newest one with "Daniel" carved into the lid of the tomb. Taking a steadying breath, she levitated the lid and moved it aside.

And she nearly dropped it on the floor when the stench hit her. Daniel had been here nearly two weeks. Long enough to smell really foul, and he looked just as bad.

Struggling not to throw up, Hermione set the lid on top of the next tomb and cast a quick bubble head. Finally able to breathe, she allowed a moment for her stomach to settle before turning back to the rather terrible contents of the tomb. Suddenly, she hoped her body would be burned when she died. The thought of ending up like poor Daniel Kitterwhal, even if no one ever disturbed her body to see her, was such that she was making plans to have a will written up stating her desire.

She'd seen some terrible things in the last four or five years, but no matter how terribly a corpse was desecrated, she still preferred them fresher than this.

Using the diagnostic spell that she had researched after breakfast, Hermione quickly deciphered the glowing script. A muggle autopsy had been inconclusive, but even so long after his death, Hermione could tell enough with this spell to be certain that dark magic had killed this man. It very well could have been Bledrun's Last Drink.

Regardless, she now knew that a muggle had been killed by dark magic. That was enough information to send to the Ministry. They could take it from here, for which she was very glad. She had absolutely no desire to see anything like this ever again. It was possible that it had been an accidental death. If the goblet truly had ended up mixed into some muggle's antique tea set, it was possible that this man had simply had the misfortune of drinking from the wrong cup. Even if that was the case, of course, it was prudent that the cup be found and stored away safely at the Ministry where it could do no more harm.

After replacing the lid on the tomb and locking the crypt behind her, Hermione returned to her rooms at Hogwarts and penned a letter to Harry. As he was an Auror now, there was a good chance that he could see to it that something was done about this sooner rather than later. She was careful not to mention Luna in the letter since she was inclined to agree with the witch that it would not be taken as seriously if she was the source. Even by Harry.

While she waited for a reply, she settled down in front of her fire with Severus' book, determined the finish it. She opted to skip lunch as food did not sound particularly appetizing after her little fieldtrip. Instead, she stayed in her rooms and sipped some minty tea while she read.

It took a little while for her to stop thinking about the wizard that had written the book and focus on the words, but she eventually managed to make some progress. She was able to finish that book relatively quickly and moved onto the next.

It was getting dark outside when her reading was interrupted by an owl tapping at her window.

"Hello, Kaddis," Hermione smiled as the owl swooped into her sitting room. The large black owl looked about as opposite from Hedwig as possible while still being an owl. It had taken Harry almost two years to replace his last owl, and he had not done so lightly.

Kaddis nipped affectionately at Hermione's hand as the witch retrieved the message. She unrolled it and read.

_Hermione,_

_I was happy to hear from you, but I admit that the subject surprised me. You're a teacher now, how did you come across this? Don't worry, I've already brought it to Robards' attention. Considering that it came from you, he seemed ready to take it seriously. He sent Marcus to check the tomb and confirmed that he was killed by dark magic. I can keep you updated if you want, but I really want to know how you found this. Bledrun's Last Drink hasn't been seen in centuries. _

_I've instructed Kaddis to pester you until you reply._

_Harry_

Hermione sighed at the bird and sat down at her desk to send a reply. She'd been right about not mentioning Luna. Robards had decided to take it serious because it came from Hermione, not Loony Luna Lovegood.

_Harry,_

_This was brought to my attention by a friend. Please don't ask who as the person wishes to remain anonymous to avoid being connected to any of this. My friend read about it in a muggle paper and made the connection to an article in last month's issue of the Quibbler. I, of course, researched it extensively before passing it on to you. I'm sure you're busy enough without chasing down hunches. While I hope the goblet hasn't resurfaced, the alternative is not pleasant either._

_Please do keep me appraised of any progress as I do now feel some connection to this whole thing. _

_Hermione_

_P.S. WHAT DID YOU SAY TO KADDIS? HE'S EATING MY HAIR!_

She sealed the letter quickly and the bird finally stopped picking at her hair so that she could tie the letter to his leg. She huffed an exasperated sigh as the bird hopped out the window, then chuckled softly as it winged its way toward London.

She turned back toward her book eagerly as she'd been engrossed in it when Harry's letter had arrived. She took her dinner in her quarters that night just because she couldn't bear to put the book down long enough to go to the Great Hall.

/\*/\*/\

Hermione poured the Dittany potion down Severus' throat, then took three tries to properly cast the healing spell with her hands shaking so badly. Rather than leaving then, as she had actually done at the time, she cradled his head in her hands and pressed her forehead to his, weeping and begging him to wake up.

She started violently when she felt his hands slide around her back. She jerked away from him enough to see his clear, dark eyes staring back at her with concern.

He tenderly wiped tears from her cheek with one finger and frowned at her. "Why do you always cry over me?" he asked gently. "You know that I did not die that day."

Hermione blinked and realized that they were lying on his bed again. She drew away from him enough to wipe her own tears, then snuggled into his chest, where he willingly engulfed her in his embrace once more.

"I should have done more," she admitted softly. "I should have acted sooner. I should have had an anti-venin. I should have learned more healing spells that year. I should have-"

"Hermione," he interrupted softly.

She lifted her face to look at him, biting her lip to keep from rambling on.

"You saved my life," he said firmly. "You did everything that you could, and vastly more than anyone else would have in that moment. You are my guardian angel," he smiled sadly, running his fingers softly through her hair.

She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and trying to make herself believe the words.

"My beautiful angel," he said quietly.

Hermione's eyes flew open and focused on his. "You think I'm beautiful?" she asked. Even though she was aware that it was only a dream and would mean nothing when she had woken, she loved hearing it on his velvety voice.

"Do you consider me a fool, Hermione?" he asked with some of his more typical snide sharpness in his tone.

"No," she said warily, concerned that this may become a bad dream.

His eyes softened again though. "Then you won't ask me that question again. Only a fool could not see how beautiful you are."

While she didn't normally fish for compliments, she could not help but preen a bit at his words. She leaned in to kiss his lips gently. "I would love to see this side of you, Severus," she admitted. "I wonder if you have ever allowed anyone to see it." She also wondered if there was any truth to it, but she was enjoying the illusion too much to dwell on that at the moment.

He stared at her for a long moment with a very strange look on his face. Then his eyes widened slightly and he leaned forward, kissing her more forcefully, more as he had that night in his lab.

After a moment of surprise, she returned the kiss with interest, moaning softly as his tongue began to explore her mouth. Her hand tangled in his hair and she rolled until she was on top of him, pinning him to the bed with mouth and hips. She pressed her weight firmly into his lap and felt her reward somewhat… larger than she would have guessed.

She moaned appreciatively, then sat up, staring down at him hungrily. She yanked her shirt off smoothly and then fell over him again as he moaned into her mouth. His hands found her back and her bra quickly fell down her arms. His hands were exploring the flesh he'd bared before she could even move to free her arms and she shivered beneath his warm touch.

His hands snaked around her back suddenly and he rolled her over on the bed so that he was on top of her. After a long moment, he drew his mouth from hers, taking his time appreciating the sight of her before he drew his wand. With a flick of his wrist, all the buttons of his robes fell free and he tossed the garment to the floor before removing the t-shirt that he wore beneath.

"Oh, Severus," Hermione breathed, her hands coming to rest on his hips before slowly gliding their way over the hard, if not extremely defined, muscles of his torso. Considering that he'd spent three years in bed, he looked absolutely fantastic. His pale skin was criss-crossed with scars, some small and some quite large, but they couldn't detract at all from his beauty. If anything, they enhanced it in her eyes. This was a real man with scars to show for the challenges of his life, not some silly boy playing at life and love.

She leaned up enough to taste his nipple, just grazing it with her teeth, then slowly worked her way across his chest with tongue and lips until she could close her mouth over the other nipple. Severus hissed as her teeth brushed it and she looked up to see him drop his head back in pleasure.

Smiling against his silky skin, she drew herself out from under him, slowly leaning forward more and more to force him onto his back with his head toward the foot of the massive bed. Once she had him where she wanted him, she settled her hands just above his knees and slowly began to caress her way up his legs while her mouth trekked down toward his belt.

"Oh my God…" she heard Severus breathe and her mouth twisted into a smile again.

Her hands finally claimed her prize and she stroked her way up him slowly and firmly while he groaned his pleasure. He was most definitely well endowed.

Her fingers found the buckle of his belt and began to work it free when his wand flashed in front of her and the belt unfastened itself, pants following suit. "Patience, Severus," she laughed, leaning up to kiss him again.

He grunted his response and she made her way down once more, slowly and deliberately sliding his pants over his firm arse and down his long legs. Only when his pants had joined his robes on the floor did she allow herself to appreciate what she had discovered.

"Wow, Severus," she breathed, drinking in his naked body.

Severus lifted his head to study her face for a moment, then surged up with leonine agility, bowling her over and coming to rest on top of her. His hands slipped beneath the waist of her pants and he literally tore them off her. She practically screamed in excitement as her underwear followed.

He inserted his hips between her legs, and she felt him settle against her very wet opening.

"Oh God, Severus! Take me!" she screamed desperately as he hesitated.

A grin of pure triumph curled those luscious lips. His muscles bunched and he surged into her…

/\*/\*/\

Hermione woke with a strangled scream, lurching up from where she'd fallen asleep draped across her sofa.

"Mother of fuck!" she screamed at the empty room.

* * *

**Okay, that chapter was fun to write. I hope it was as fun for you to read. Thank you so much to everyone who is following this story or added it to your favorites list. You guys are awesome. Reading your reviews helps to keep me glued to my computer writing the next chapter, so please send me your thoughts!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** I put the last couple lines of the previous chapter at the beginning of this one since it continues directly.

**Content Warning:** Some brief light smut.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 22 September 2001-Sunday**

Hermione woke with a strangled scream, lurching up from where she'd fallen asleep draped across her sofa.

"Mother of fuck!" she screamed at the empty room.

She gasped for air, trying to calm down. At some point there, she'd forgotten that that was a dream. She slumped back onto the sofa, groaning at the unfulfilled ache between her legs.

A sharp tapping at the window alerted her to what had woken her and Hermione growled a few obscenities as she drew her wand out of her sleeve and flicked it at the window.

Kaddis swooped into the room alighting on the arm of her sofa. It was only with an effort that she managed to avoid snapping at him as she collected the message.

Blessedly, the bird left as soon as he was unburdened.

Dropping the unopened letter on the table next to the book, Hermione closed the window, noting that it was early predawn. She stripped quickly out of her clothes and climbed into her bed, letting her mind return to that most wonderful of dreams while her hand slithered down to the wetness it had inspired. She groaned softly as her fingers caressed the slippery folds.

She regretted not getting to taste that bountiful manhood, but she truly wished that she'd not wasted so much time. Just a few more minutes and…

She shuddered and a moan slowly built in her throat as she thought about the glory that was Severus in the nude.

The arousal remaining from that dream was such that she felt herself nearing release after just seconds. Two fingers slipped deep inside and she bit down hard on her lip as the pleasure peaked and then exploded through her body.

She lay there for a while as her breathing returned to normal, struggling to keep the high from falling into a low upon recalling her true relationship with the sexy, irritating, confusing potions' master.

When it became apparent that her mind was not going to relent while she lay there, Hermione got out of bed and had a quick shower before getting dressed in some clean robes and finally addressing Harry's letter.

_Hermione,_

_I won't press if you don't want to mention your friend, but I am a little concerned for you. When you took the post at Hogwarts, I had hoped that you'd put this "adventuring" behind you. What you did for Snape was amazing, but what it did to you was difficult for all of your friends to watch. Forgive me, but you can sometimes become TOO involved. Please just promise me that you're going to leave this thing alone now. Ron and Ginny are worried too, so it's not just me._

_And I hope that this doesn't arrive too early. Robards has me working the night shift. I'm starting to think he enjoys making my life more difficult._

_Harry_

_P.S. Sorry about Kaddis. He takes his job very seriously._

Hermione smiled a bit at the end of the letter, but then sighed as her eyes returned to the top. She knew that her friends worried about her and that they only meant to help, but sometimes she really wished that they would just leave her alone. They didn't understand. None of them really understood why she'd done what she had for Severus.

Of course, if she was being honest with herself, the reason that they didn't understand was because she'd never told them. She'd never told anyone. What she'd told Severus had been true – both times. Those were the reasons that he had become her project, but they were not the reason that she'd become so obsessed. Her nightmares about the shrieking shack had started about a month after she'd started trying to cure Severus. They were horrible, but they were better than the alternative.

And when she was awake… It was like… Like the only way that she could fully breathe was if she was doing everything that she could to help him. Every time she let herself become even momentarily distracted, the pressure began to build until she felt like she'd come apart – dark memories threatening to unhinge her. Her quest to save Severus had been her salvation. She couldn't explain that to anyone, of course. It would only make them worry more.

Shaking herself from her gloomy thoughts, Hermione returned to the book she'd been reading last night. She'd been only a few pages from the end when she'd dozed off. She finished it quickly, then proceeded to pace her room for a few minutes. She'd woken so early that it was still just over an hour until breakfast. She had a few papers that she could mark for her students, but she'd kept up with most of it after classes during the week. She didn't think that she'd be able to focus on that at the moment anyway.

Finally, her eyes fell on the two books piled together on the table and she smiled. There was something to do…

She made her way down to the dungeons without meeting anyone in the halls so early.

Elizabeth blinked at her when Hermione approached the door, then checked a pocket watch. "My, my, Miss Granger. You're calling awfully early."

Hermione frowned at the portrait, studiously _not _thinking about her dream, and raised her hand to knock sharply on the frame.

"Careful!" Elizabeth scolded. "That gilding is new!" Her scowl turned into a leer when Hermione ignored her. "You know, if you want to stay the night some time, I can be very discreet."

Hermione felt her face turn scarlet. On any other day, she'd probably have been able to ignore that comment fairly well, but she couldn't stop her mind from going instantly to her dream.

"Oh, don't be that way," Elizabeth positively lit up at Hermione's reaction. "It's just us girls here. Just between us," she added conspiratorially, "he is quite a catch, isn't he?"

Hermione clenched her jaw and pounded deliberately harder, causing the infuriating portrait to screech indignantly.

"What the bloody hell is so important?" Severus was growling as he swung the portrait open from the inside.

Hermione grimaced as she watched surprise replace the irritation on his face. "Sorry. I meant to annoy Elizabeth. Not you."

He stared at her a moment, then huffed and rolled his eyes as he stepped aside to let her in. "That woman is a bloody menace. What was she going on about this time?"

Hermione fought another blush at the idea of relating the topic.

He caught the blush anyway and he quirked an eyebrow thoughtfully, "Nothing new, I gather," was all he said.

Hermione nodded to that.

"What are you doing here so early?" he asked after a moment of silence. Surprisingly, his tone was not harsh.

"Oh," Hermione smiled, retrieving the books from one of the pockets in her robe that she'd enchanted with an enlargement charm as she'd used on her purse. "I finished them."

He nodded slightly as he accepted the books. "And you felt the need to deliver them before breakfast because…"

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted and noticed him frown slightly at that. "I assumed that you were an early riser," she added, though it came out half question.

"Indeed," he nodded. "You've come to borrow more, I assume?"

She felt another blush creeping into her cheeks at the very thought of going into his bedroom, and she resolved right then to do some research on a charm to prevent blushes. "Um, yes, if you don't mind," she replied. She wasn't sure about going into his bedroom this morning, but she figured that that response was the least likely to make him suspicious about her blush. He'd likely assume that she was simply embarrassed at being caught out in her motives.

He nodded and led the way back to his bedroom where Hermione studiously avoided letting herself so much as look at his bed. She was perusing his collection of books when she felt the gentle pressure of his mind against hers. She spun on him in surprise.

The pressure vanished instantly and his eyes dropped to the floor for a moment. "My apologies," he said quickly. "I didn't realize that I was doing it." His eyes met hers again warily, waiting to gage her reaction.

She recovered from her surprise, having suffered from the very same problem herself. The interesting part was that that didn't happen unless she was very curious as to what someone was thinking. "I understand," she allowed. "No apology necessary." She turned back to the books then, trying to figure out what he would have seen in her face just then to make him so curious about her thoughts.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 22 September 2001-Sunday**

Severus studied the young witch thoughtfully, though he was careful to stay away from her mind now. She seemed to be hyperaware of her mental shields, noticing even the lightest touch. That was a form of paranoia, Severus knew from experience.

"I didn't see you after breakfast yesterday," Severus mentioned after a couple minutes, searching for a way to segue into the topic he wished to discuss.

She glanced at him, looking vaguely surprised.

It annoyed him a bit that she always seemed so surprised by everything he said. It made him wonder what kind of opinion she could really have of him if such a simple pleasantry from him was so surprising.

"I had some errands to run in the morning," she explained offhandedly once she'd recovered from her brief moment of surprise. "When I got back to my rooms, I started reading and I just couldn't seem to pull myself away."

Severus smiled slightly. Yep, that sounded like her. He let the silence stretch a bit longer before he tried again, somewhat more bluntly but innocently enough he hoped. "You said that you couldn't sleep," he noted. "Bad dreams?"

Her shoulders tensed at that and he saw her cheeks heat with that lovely blush.

His heart accelerated at exactly the reaction he'd been waiting for but not really expecting. _Bloody hell…_ His mind went blank for a moment.

"…should be used to it by now," he heard when he was able to comprehend anything again. She glanced at him.

Severus nodded, his expression polite and only mildly interested. All those years as a spy were useful for something at least. He wasn't sure what she'd said, but his nod seemed to sate her as she went back to her perusal of his books.

He went to his bed and picked up the book he was currently reading. He opened it to the right page and stared unseeingly at the words as he tried to work through his turbulent thoughts. It didn't seem possible, but he wasn't sure what else to think. Shared dreams were about as common as Parselmouths, and those that did exist were usually a single, isolated incident between siblings, parents and their children, or couples that had been married for years. Everything that he knew told him that a really strong connection was vital. He liked Hermione, and he thought there might be something between them, but nothing nearing that magnitude.

Perhaps more confusing than anything else was last night's dream. If they truly were sharing dreams, then Hermione had really chosen to say and do… all of that. That just didn't seem possible to him, but evidence suggested otherwise. Last night, in his dream, he'd noticed that he could feel her mind. It was something that he always had in the back of his mind when he was looking into someone's eyes. So many years as a Legilimens had led to that awareness, though he rarely even thought about it anymore. It didn't really tell him much, though perhaps it made it a bit easier to pick up emotions when he was looking someone in the eyes.

The strange part had been that he'd never felt that in a dream before. That was part of how he was almost always aware when he was dreaming. Unfortunately, the very idea that he may have been holding the real Hermione had done something rather amazing to his libido, preventing him from saying or doing anything that may have confirmed his suspicion. And her response…

He cut off that line of thinking right there. It would be best to save that particular memory for when he was alone.

"Severus?" her hesitant voice cut through his thoughts.

He looked at her and lifted an eyebrow in question.

"I think I'll just take this back to my room, if you don't mind," she said, holding up the book she'd selected.

"Of course," he nodded, though he did notice that she was standing almost as far from his bed as was possible without actually leaving the room.

"Thanks," she smiled gratefully, turning to leave. "I'll see you at breakfast," she called from the hall, and he listened to her footsteps leave his rooms.

Severus stared after her thoughtfully, struggling to figure her out. He'd have been dead a hundred times over the years if not for his ability to read people. So why was it so difficult for him to get a read on Hermione?

He was fairly convinced that he truly had shared those two dreams with her, and the way she'd acted… She'd seemed to like him. To want him.

Their interaction outside the dreams was more confusing. He was a bit concerned that the way she acted during the dreams had less to do with the way she truly felt for him and more to do with the fact that she was obviously aware that she was dreaming and therefore assumed that she could do whatever she wanted.

With a heavy sigh, he put his book down and left his rooms. It was early for breakfast, but a bit of wandering wouldn't go amiss. If he was lucky, he may even find some Griffindors breaking rules in the corridors. That brought a smirk to his lips as he left the dungeons.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 22 September 2001-Sunday**

Hermione didn't think that Severus had noticed which book she'd borrowed, for which she was grateful. She didn't want to have to explain her sudden interest in ancient dark magic. Sure she could have explained it as relating to her class, but that was as far as she'd gotten. It would have seemed a little slim if her only follow up had been to "see where it leads".

The truth was that she still felt the need to distract herself from thinking about Severus, and Bledrun's Last Drink was the handiest thing on which to focus her attention. Besides, if she found something, she could always pass it on to Harry. No doubt she'd be scolded again for continuing to look into it, but Harry could hardly be upset with her for reading a book. That was kind of her thing.

She didn't start reading it immediately, since it was so close to breakfast. Minerva would get worried if she missed a third meal in a row, and she had told Severus that she would see him at breakfast.

Instead, she used the extra time to fix her hair and decided to wear it down once she had it nice and smooth.

"Good morning, Severus," she greeted with a grin when she sat down at the breakfast table.

"Again," he muttered with a tiny smirk.

Her grin widened a bit at that. It seemed that the awkwardness inspired by that kiss had finally passed, she was relieved to find. He'd been pleasant enough when she'd seen him earlier, but it seemed like he was always more open when they were alone together so she hadn't been certain that he wouldn't close up again on her.

Trying to moderate her stupid smirk, she put some food in her mouth and focused on chewing.

The mail arrived about midway through breakfast, as always, and Hermione was surprised when an owl swooped down and landed on the back of her chair. She didn't recognize the owl specifically, she noted as she took the parcel from its leg. The bird flew away immediately and Hermione looked after it thoughtfully while she unrolled the letter.

It was a short letter written in a hand that she vaguely recognized.

_Hermione,_

_I need to speak with you and I'm afraid it can't wait. Please come to my office before 0800 this morning._

_-Kingsley_

Hermione's eyes widened and she dropped the letter on the table in her haste to check her pocket watch. It was already after 0730. "Bloody slow owl," she groused, taking a couple quick bites of her food and washing it down before getting up.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Severus asked, sounded alarmed. He was looking at the letter that was mostly rolled up on the table. Enough that he wouldn't have seen who it was from, at least.

"Evidently I have an appointment this morning," she explained, forcing a small smile.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"I think so," she nodded quickly before gathering her letter and leaving the table.

She hurried up to her rooms, gathered her purse and cloak, then tried not to jog in her haste to get beyond the wards.

She apparated into the apparition area of the atrium in the Ministry. She was glad that she'd fixed her hair nicely that morning as she smiled and nodded to the multitudes of witches and wizards who called greetings to her. Many of them she did not know by sight, but she'd gotten used to that over the years.

She contained her grimace with an effort when she almost ran into a Daily Prophet reporter, who instantly snapped a picture of her and began angling for an interview regarding just about anything from the reason for her presence at the Ministry today to the current condition of Severus and her new position as a Hogwarts professor.

"Excuse me," she said impatiently, knowing that it was nearly eight now. "You are going to make me late for a meeting with the Minister."

The reporter practically quivered as his enchanted quill began scratching furiously on a floating parchment. "Can you tell me why you're meeting with the Minister this morning, Professor Granger?"

"No comment," she frowned at him, then brushed by him with a grimace, certain that tomorrow's headline would contain some atrocious supposition if not a completely fabricated scandal.

She arrived at Kingsley's office with five minutes to spare.

"Oh, morning, Hermione," Sage, Kingley's assistant, smiled up from her desk. "Go ahead and knock. He's waiting for you."

Hermione smiled to the rather pleasant witch and knocked softly. When he called for her to enter, she took a deep breath and told herself to relax, then opened the door and stepped inside.

"Ah, Hermione," he smiled, glancing at the clock. "I nearly thought you'd be late."

"Your owl didn't give me much time to get here," she frowned.

He sighed, "He's been busy lately. He's probably tired."

She nodded, "Is there a problem, sir?"

"Hermione, I've warned you about the 'sir' thing."

"Sorry," she acknowledged quickly. She didn't want to immediately ask him again if there was a problem, so she didn't say anything, waiting for him to explain.

"Sit down," he said tiredly, fishing through a pile of files on his desk. She was just taking her seat when he found the one that he was looking for and passed it over to her. "This arrived on my desk this morning."

She frowned uncertainly. Despite being on a first-name basis with the Minister, she wasn't usually asked to look at files – or called to his office at the last minute. She opened the file, expecting to see something about Bledrun's Last Drink.

She blanched when she saw the French paper featuring Voriette. "Where did you get this?" she breathed.

"Well, that answers that," he noted. "The French Ministry sent that over. Their investigation turned up multiple descriptions of an English woman that seems to have been in every single one of the places that they have tied to Voriette's crimes over the summer. The sketches of you are uncanny." He reached across the desk to flip the news clipping to the other side of the folder so that she could see the sketch that was underneath it. Indeed it did look very much like her.

"I can explain-" she began quickly.

"Don't bother," he interrupted. "Their investigation has already turned up enough evidence to link Voriette to his crimes. It seems obvious that you were tracking him. I'm just wondering why you didn't bring this to me."

Hermione sighed heavily. She'd have rather explained the entire thing to him in exhaustive detail than answer that particular question. "If I'd involved the Ministry, Voriette may have discovered that he was being tracked and disappeared again," she offered, since she had considered that very plausible explanation – only after he was dead, but she had considered it.

Kingsley's eyes narrowed. For a moment it seemed that he'd call her on her evasion, but then he nodded. "I'm not saying that I condone it, but I understand," he finally allowed.

Hermione withheld her relieved sigh.

He flicked his wand, causing a quill and parchment to float across the desk and land in front of her. "The French Ministry couldn't be happier that Voriette is dead," he explained. "It saved them the expense and effort of a trial as well as the effort of rounding the man up. They do need to close this case though. Write down your statement, describing briefly everything that happened involving yourself and Voriette over the summer. They don't need all the details, just a basic outline. Sign it and bring it back to me. I will personally vouch for you. Then we can put this behind us."

She swallowed hard and nodded.

"There's an empty conference room across the hall," he dismissed.

"Thanks, Kingsley," she said with a quiet sigh as she collected the quill and parchment and headed for the conference room.

He just nodded in return, then refocused his attention on the other files in front of him.

It took Hermione nearly an hour to complete her statement. She allowed it to sound like she'd first discovered his trail all by herself and stated her reasoning for not involving any Ministry as the same that she'd given Kingsley. She found no need to lie or withhold elsewhere, though she did try to keep it brief. She even described the way that she'd killed him without holding back, since he'd used a killing curse against her and she'd responded in a way not necessarily meant to kill him.

As to why she didn't tell anyone after the fact, she could only say that it hadn't occurred to her. She wrote that she'd simply needed to go home, and, since he was dead, had not thought to involve anyone else.

When she returned to Kingsley's office, he read through it, nodding occasionally, then penned something brief below her signature and signed his name.

"We're not done yet, Hermione," he said as he flicked his wand to roll the parchment and send it to an "outgoing" rack among numerous other scrolls.

She sat down warily.

"After this, you can imagine my surprise at the report I received from the Auror office this morning."

Hermione tried hard not to look guilty.

"Is tracking dark magic a hobby of yours?" he asked dryly.

"More like an obsession," she admitted quietly. "I swear that I don't go looking for it, Kingsley, but I can't ignore it when I find it."

"At least this time you sent it through the proper channels," he acknowledged. He studied her a moment, then shook his head, "A pity you didn't enter Auror training with Harry and Ron. We could use someone with your skills."

She tried hard not to blush, silently cursing herself. She didn't used to blush this much. "I like teaching," she admitted.

"Trust me, I'm glad to know that we have someone like you training our future Aurors, but if you ever tire of teaching, there will always be a place for you at the Auror office."

"Thank you. I appreciate that, but I'm happy where I am for now. Actually, I was meaning to talk to you about my seventh years if you've got a moment."

"Hermione, I am the Minister of Magic. I am at my desk on a Sunday morning. I never have a moment to spare. Regardless, as long as you're here…"

Hermione left Kingsley's office several minutes later feeling a bit lightheaded and a little like she might be in danger of hysterics. She'd definitely underestimated the French Ministry to think that she wouldn't be linked to Voriette's death. She was, however, incredibly grateful for Kingsley's trust in her. She made an effort to pull herself together as she exchanged a parting pleasantry with Sage and headed for the lift.

She deliberately straightened up when people began to join her on the lift, and she stepped into the atrium with her head held high, not surprised to find the reporter from the Prophet now joined by a witch she recognized from Witch Weekly and another journalist type that she didn't recognize. They pounced on her almost before she could get out of the lift.

Luckily, she'd been dealing with their sort long enough that she could handle them relatively well now. Resigned to the fact that it would be better to give them a believable story than to let them speculate, she held up her hands to quiet their overlapping questions and waited until they had desisted before speaking in a calm, clear voice. "I am at the Ministry today to speak to Minister Shackelbolt with regard to next year's Auror training program. I have some very promising seventh year students interested in enrolling."

She watched the eager light in their eyes dim at the mundane explanation and hid her smirk. She could well imagine their glee if they knew the true reason that she'd been summoned.

"Did you come to ask the Minister for special placement for your favored students?" the unfamiliar reporter questioned eagerly.

"I'm sorry," Hermione frowned. "I don't believe I'm acquainted with you," she admitted.

"Hollister Brayden, ma'am," he replied immediately, "Daily Dish."

It was an effort to smother her grimace. The Daily Dish was a gossip rag even more deplorable than the Daily Prophet. "I see. Well, Mr. Brayden, allow me to make one thing perfectly clear to you. I would never disrespect my students by assuming that they would need me to seek placement for them that they could not achieve on their own. Furthermore, Minister Shackelbolt has never, to my knowledge, granted special placement to anyone based on anything that was not appropriately earned."

Her glare seemed to cow the young reporter fairly effectively, and Hermione blinked through several camera flashes. She had no idea why the bloody reporters so loved to plaster her face on the front of their paper when she was at her royally pissed.

"Professor Granger, do you use a potion to make your hair so lustrous, or is it a charm?" the Witch Weekly reporter questioned eagerly.

Hermione stared at her a moment, then turned her attention to the Prophet reporter as he was speaking again. "Professor Granger, please, would you give our readers a brief update on the reinstated Professor Snape?"

"Professor Snape has made a full recovery and is no longer under my care," she informed him neutrally, since it was a surprisingly harmless question. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have papers to mark." She ducked around them before they could try to impede her and continued to the apparition area.

Back at Hogwarts, she managed to make it up to her rooms without meeting anyone with an inclination to talk. She quickly collapsed onto her sofa. "What a morning," she sighed heavily.

/\*/\*/\

Hermione woke screaming on the floor next to her sofa, her left arm cradled against her chest. It took a few moments for her to realize that it had been a dream and quiet her screams. Once she had, she struggled to suppress her sobs.

It had been over three years since she'd last had that horrible nightmare. Devoting herself to Severus had caused that nightmare to be replaced by nightmares about him. It had allowed her to overcome her own demons. Temporarily, at least.

She dragged herself off the floor and to her bathroom where she turned on the shower and cranked up the heat, stepping in without even taking off her robes. She tried hard to fight the images that kept hurtling themselves at her. That maniacal laughter as she screamed in pain. The utter certainty that she was going to die…

Unable to block the images, she sank down into a heap under the hot spray and lost herself in her sobs for a long time.

When she at last managed to pry herself out of the shower, she shucked her wet robes, leaving them scattered on the floor. She made a valiant effort to put herself back together as she dressed in dry clothes, and she checked the time. Lunch had just started, so she'd slept only a couple of hours. The thought of trying to act normal through the meal was extremely unappealing and she had no appetite anyway. Instead, she curled up on the window seat with the book she'd borrowed from Severus and made an effort to drown her memories in more – probably pointless – research.

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**You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the reviews. I'm glad to know that you're enjoying and some of you frankly make me laugh, so thanks for that too. Please keep them coming!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I felt bad for leaving that last chapter on such a dreary note. I couldn't let you wait a whole day to find another reason to smile about this story. This bit wasn't originally intended as a stand-alone chapter, but I think it works okay, and hopefully it will make you smile.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 23 October 2001-Tuesday**

Severus' heart all but stopped when he heard the scream rip through the house. He'd heard screams like that before and he knew exactly what it meant. Only Cruciatus caused that kind of pain. For a moment, he stood frozen. He didn't want to see it, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it. He didn't want to pretend to enjoy it. Not again.

Then the scream came again, and this time he recognized the voice. His feet were carrying him rapdily through the house before he'd made a decision to move. And then he saw her. Writhing on the floor while Bellatrix laughed like the utter nutcase that she was.

And that's when it hit him. This was a nightmare, but it wasn't his. It was Hermione's. He rushed forward, stooping to wrap his arms around her. She reacted by clinging to him as though her life depended on it.

Severus closed his eyes and willed them away from the nightmare. When he opened his eyes again, they were back in his bed at Hogwarts.

Hermione was still attached to him, trembling violently and choking on her sobs.

Severus rubbed her back lightly, realizing that he was trembling as well. He'd heard about Hermione's capture before the end of the war, but he hadn't imagined that it was anything like that. It made him wish that Bellatrix was still alive so that he could kill her personally – slowly.

He hadn't realized that Draco had been there either. At least the boy had looked distressed about it, he recalled vaguely from the glimpse he'd had of him in her nightmare.

"Shh…" he crooned, stroking Hermione's hair softly. "I was a dream, love. You're safe and she can never hurt you again."

Hermione began to calm down a little, softening her grip on him as she leaned into his chest.

Despite the nightmare he'd just witnessed, Severus was relieved. It had been a month since his last shared dream with Hermione and he'd been beginning to fear that the strange phenomenon had passed.

In their waking hours, she'd been drawing away from him over the last month. Drawing away from everyone, actually. During the week, she'd usually attend lunch and sometimes dinner in the Great Hall, but she hadn't been to breakfast since she'd received that letter and rushed away. He'd rarely seen her in the castle at all on the weekends, making him think that she may have been spending them away from Hogwarts.

It was killing him that he didn't know what was wrong with her and couldn't get her to talk to him. She'd never been guarded in their dreams though, so he was hoping that she'd confide in him now. Then again, why wouldn't she? As far as she knew, she was essentially talking to herself. He did feel a bit guilty about not telling her, but he couldn't risk her closing up on him.

"Hermione?" he said softly when she seemed to have calmed.

"Yes?" she asked quietly without moving.

"Are you okay, love?" he asked.

"I am now," she said with a smile in her voice as she snuggled into him a bit further.

Severus kissed the top of her head lightly. He was pretty sure that he'd never felt quite as good as he did with her in his arms. "You've been distant lately," he noted. "Is it because of your nightmares?"

She nodded a bit. "It's not just when I sleep. It's always there in the back of my mind. I can't get away from it."

"It didn't seem to bother you so much at the start of term."

"It went away for a long time," she whispered so that he could just barely hear her. "But now you're better, and I'm so glad for that, but I have so much free time…" her voice broke and she stopped talking.

"Hermione, is that why you did what you did for me?" he asked, surprised.

"One of the reasons," she said quietly.

Severus tightened his arms around her. He'd known that she'd been hardened by the war and what she'd done after, but he hadn't realized that she'd been so damaged. Of course, he also hadn't known that Bellatrix had tortured her.

"Hermione, I…" he started to tell her the truth about their dreams, but then she sat up enough to look into his eyes and he couldn't do it. Maybe it was foolish, but he couldn't risk losing this, however rare it proved to be.

"What?" she asked, her eyes searching his.

His heart beat faster as he wondered if she could see what he did. If she'd know.

After a moment, she lightly brushed a few stray hairs from his face, trailing her fingers along his cheek. Then she leaned in and kissed his lips very softly.

He shivered slightly at her wonderfully tender touch, then took her face gently in his large hands and gazed into her beautiful eyes. He was filled with the most amazing sense of wonder that she could look at him like that.

"I'm afraid I've fallen in love with you," he heard himself say though he was certain that he hadn't meant to voice that thought.

She flinched like he'd slapped her, jerking back away from him, her face pained.

"Hermione!" he said, startled and hurt by her reaction, but mostly just concerned for her.

She buried her face in her hands and shook her head sharply. "I can't do this," she moaned.

Severus reached for her, but she pulled away again, quickly getting up off the bed and she faded to nothing within two steps.

/\*/\*/\

Severus woke with his head pounding so fiercely that he felt nauseous. He stumbled into his lab and downed a Headache Draught, then leaned heavily over a work table, trying to sort through what had just happened while the pain began to subside.

He was pretty sure that Hermione had raised her defenses when she'd walked away from him, though she probably hadn't realized that she was doing it. The barrier she'd erected had been strong enough to forcibly separate their joined minds. He wondered if she'd be waking up with a headache as well.

He wondered if she'd ever lower her barriers enough for him to reach her that way again.

For a moment, he wondered if he'd meant what he'd said, but he knew that he had. As absolutely absurd as it was, he'd completely fallen for her. She seemed a perfect compliment to him in so many ways. Granted, he didn't doubt that they would find plenty of occasions to argue between her temper of both of their pride, but he didn't think that would be so bad. She had such passion that he even enjoyed arguing with her.

Of course, that was all assuming that she felt anything of the sort for him. Their dreams had shown him that she liked him, but to what extent he couldn't guess. And then there was the age difference to consider. In another ten years it may not matter so much, but she was still so young…

There were plenty of reasons that it was foolish to even consider it, but knew one thing now for certain. He wanted her. In every way.

* * *

**Okay, I hope you're smiling. More to come tomorrow, and please don't forget to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **Weekends are busy for me because my daughter is home from school and I have company coming over this weekend, so I may not get a chapter up tomorrow. I'll try, but no promises.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 23 October 2001-Tuesday**

Hermione cradled her head in her hands, groaning. She often woke from nightmares with a headache, but she couldn't imagine how she must have been tensing in her sleep to have given herself this kind of headache.

She got out of bed and made her way down the hall to the storage cupboard as slowly and smoothly as she could manage, barely daring to so much as breathe heavily for fear of further enraging her head.

She winced at the slight squeak from the hinge, resolving to fix that once her head stopped threatening to explode, and downed the vial in one gulp. Once it was down, she leaned against the wall and slid slowly down to the floor.

As the pain began to clear enough for her to really think, she found her dream at the forefront of her mind. She was allowing her fantasies to become far too out of hand. Imaging Severus telling her that he loved her! She'd clearly gone from simple fantasies to full-blown delusions now. If she didn't get a handle on it, she was going to go insane. She needed to get over this infatuation with Severus. And soon.

When she finally felt like she could move without vomiting, she pulled herself up off the floor and made her way slowly into the sitting room since she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore. It wasn't until she glanced at the windows spanning the wall along the outside of the tower that she realized it wasn't yet even predawn. She cast a quick tempus and was surprised to find it just after two in the morning.

Groaning for the long day ahead, she went to her usual post-nightmare perch at the window. She hefted the thick volume she was currently reading into her lap and opened to the correct page.

After several minutes of staring at the words without actually comprehending any of them, Hermione sighed and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. She hated nights like this, when she woke from a nightmare and couldn't sleep but couldn't bring herself to do anything else either. The difference tonight was that she wasn't twitching with memories of torture. Her gallant dream Severus had rescued her from that, at least.

Now she was left with the morose task of truly admitting to herself that she would never be with Severus. She couldn't imagine any other way to stop these foolish dreams. The entire thing was making her rather depressed.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 23 October 2001-Tuesday**

Severus was surprised when Hermione actually showed up for breakfast. For a moment, he hoped that perhaps last night's dream had had a positive effect.

"Morning, Severus," she said as she sat down.

Severus suppressed a sigh at the lack of life in her voice. He wasn't sure what had possessed her to come to breakfast this morning, but he seriously doubted that it was due to the fact that she was feeling better.

"Good morning, Hermione," he returned, trying to be pleasant. "Did you sleep well?" The instant that the words left his lips he was silently screaming at himself. Of all the ridiculous pleasantries he could have spoken...

She sighed gloomily, and lied with a half-hearted, "Fine, thank you."

He wondered if it was his words or her preceding nightmare that had put her into this state. Both, perhaps. He needed to tell her, he realized. He wasn't sure if it would make her feel any better, but she needed to know. He couldn't be selfish about that anymore.

He'd tell her soon, he resolved, but not until he could get her alone. After classes for the day, he decided. It turned his stomach to imagine the many variations of negative reactions that she could have from laughing at his affection to raging at his deceit, but he knew that he didn't have a choice. He couldn't stand to see the normally passionate witch looking so grim.

He didn't try to talk to her anymore, since he couldn't think of anything he could say at the moment that may have an impact on her mood.

It was only a few minutes later that Severus noticed the vaguely familiar witch nearing the staff table. The lack of school robes made her stand out, otherwise she probably could have passed for a seventh year. She had long pale hair and a rather vacant expression.

That didn't really narrow it down.

"Oh, Miss Lovegood," Minerva exclaimed, answering Severus' silent ponderings.

Hermione had seemed to be ignoring everything around her until Minerva said that, at which point her head snapped up and her eyes focused intently on the young witch.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," Miss Lovegood responded in that vacant way she had that made her seem so dim.

Knowing now who she was, Severus recalled that she hadn't been dim, but very odd and extremely unlikeable.

"I just came to talk to Hermione," Lovegood continued.

By the time she'd even finished that sentence, Hermione was up out of her chair. She gestured sharply for Lovegood to follow, then led the way over to the staff entrance, out of earshot from the table. Lovegood followed at her own pace, as she likely did everything.

Severus tried to watch without staring, but, as Minerva was staring fairly openly, he wasn't too worried.

Lovegood handed Hermione something that looked like a folded newspaper.

Hermione's whole body was tense as she snatched it from the other witch and her eyes flew over whatever was folded to the front, her eyes growing darker by the second. Hermione said something brief and hushed to Lovegood and the blonde replied calmly.

Then Hermione spun on her heel and stalked out of the room with the paper still in hand.

"Do you know what that was about?" Minerva murmured.

Severus glanced at her and found her looking at him so he assumed the question had been addressed to him. "No idea," he admitted.

Lovegood wandered back over to the table, staring at Hermione's mostly untouched plate. "Oh,yum. Do you mind if I join you, Headmistress?"

The girl seemed utterly unaffected by whatever news had so upset Hermione.

"Not at all, Luna," Minerva replied kindly though Severus thought it looked a little forced.

"Excuse me," Severus murmured as he got up. Lovegood's sitting next to him was excuse enough for him to leave the table.

He found himself debating all the way to Hermione's rooms if he shouldn't just leave her be, but she'd seemed so upset with whatever Lovegood had given her, and considering the mood she'd been in to begin… Well, he decided he would just check and make sure that she was okay. He knocked on her door, finding himself jealous that she had a door with a gargoyle and a password while he had to contend with that damnably annoying portrait.

She looked surprised to see him when she opened the door, though that made sense considering that he'd never stopped by her rooms before.

"Severus. What can I do for you?" she asked, turning away from him to return to her desk where she seemed to be in the process of writing something. Perhaps a letter?

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," he admitted, hardly even grimacing to say that aloud. She was really having an effect on him.

"Really?" she asked curiously, still scribbling on her parchment.

He sighed at her question and bit back a sarcastic remark. He tried to avoid sarcasm in general and he hadn't come here to mock her.

She didn't look at him, but she chuckled at his silence. "Obviously," she muttered in a passable imitation of his own irritated tone.

He smiled, but she was still focused on her parchment and didn't see it.

"Well, yes," she went on, tapping the parchment with her wand to quickly dry the ink before rolling it up and sealing it. "I'm fine." She grimaced. "Well, that's a lie," she admitted bluntly. "I'm okay."

"May I ask what it was that Lovegood gave you?" he pressed just a little, ready to back off if she resisted.

She didn't seem bothered by the question. She just picked up the paper from her desk and offered it to him.

He crossed the room to take it from her and looked over the exposed article curiously. It appeared to be a muggle death announcement. "Did you know him?" he asked after a moment to consider how this could be important.

"No," she admitted. "My interest isn't in the man, but in the way he died."

Severus looked at the paper again. "Aneurism… Bleeding in the brain?"

"Blood clot in the brain," she corrected, "but that's just their guess. I am relatively certain that it was dark magic that killed him."

His brow rose.

"More specifically, an artifact called Bledrun's Last Drink."

Severus frowned, "I'm not familiar with that."

"I'm not surprised. Until recently, no one had seen it in more than six hundred years."

"So what makes you think that it's the cause?"

"It fits," she shrugged. "Luna actually discovered the connection, if you'll believe that, though she called it the Goblet of Death."

Severus shook his head slightly.

She smiled a little. "Well, after a week in the restricted section of the library, I found a record of the goblet. I confirmed that the first victim was killed by dark magic, and I sent the information to the Ministry."

"How did you confirm it?"

"_Legere Mortuis_," she admitted.

Severus blinked. He probably shouldn't have been surprised that she'd know that obscure and difficult medimagic spell. "So you've been working with Miss Lovegood on this?" he asked curiously.

"Not precisely _with_ her. She's given me some tips and I've done research on them."

"Then she is the 'friend' that you were doing research for last month," he realized.

"Yes. I have been trying to keep it quiet that Luna was my source," she admitted. "It's not especially easy to take her seriously."

Severus didn't point out her understatement.

Hermione checked her pocket watch and her eyes widened slightly. "Wow, it's nearly time for first period, and I need to run this letter up to the owlery."

"You don't have your own owl?" he asked curiously.

"Since I was a student here, I haven't really sat still long enough to justify keeping a bird," she admitted, leading him toward the door.

She closed the door behind them and Severus was surprised to feel her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for stopping by," she smiled though he could see the sadness in her eyes. "I'll try not to rub it in, but it was actually pretty nice of you."

He watched her walk away marveling at the evident change in her mood in the last half hour. As much as he hated to admit it, he was actually grateful to Luna Lovegood. She was strange and unlikeable, yes, but she'd given Hermione something to focus on besides her past.

When she disappeared around the corner, he turned toward the dungeons and his first class.

/\*/\*/\

Hermione - 23 October 2001-Tuesday

Hermione put a huge effort into remaining attentive and involved in her classes while she surreptitiously counted the minutes until the end of the day. She didn't let herself think about Severus any more than she absolutely had to. She had no idea why he'd decided to suddenly become so open with her, but it certainly wasn't helping her to get over him.

When classes at last let out for the day, Hermione went directly back to her rooms, collected her things, and then left the school. She apparated to the Ministry and headed directly for level two. She pushed her way through the heavy doors and breathed a small sigh of relief at arriving there without meeting any reporters.

Walking into the Auror office felt something like a Hogwarts reunion with all the familiar faces. Dean and Seamus had merged their cubicles in one corner of the room and were chatting animatedly over their desks. Justin Finch-Fletchy and Ernie Macmillan occupied adjoining cubicles next to Susan bones, and Parvati Patil was pinning a picture up to one board covered in pictures of suspected dark wizards. Hermione very much doubted that the Auror office had ever seen so many Hufflepuffs at one time. A good portion of Dumbledore's Army had followed Harry into the Aurors after the war.

But, of course, no Hogwarts reunion would be complete without, "Malfoy," she said coolly as he happened to be nearest the door when she entered.

"Granger," he sneered, though she did notice that he wasn't looking at her quite so much as if she were something dirty he had to scrape off the bottom of his shoe. Maybe he had grown up a little in the last three years. Or maybe he was just smart enough to know that he was terribly outnumbered in that room.

Hermione hadn't been angry when Malfoy had avoided criminal charges after the war. All-in-all, his actions at the end had proven that he wasn't really a Death Eater at heart, and he had saved her life by delaying Bellatrix when she'd meant to murder her. Of course, that didn't mean that she liked him. She'd much rather he'd taken his freedom somewhere that she never had to see him again.

"Come to see your boyfriend?" he goaded though she wasn't sure that his heart was really in it. As insults went, that was a little weak for Malfoy.

"Don't make me hex you, Malfoy," she replied, her tone just as bored as she could make it.

Hermione waved and greeted her former classmates on her way through but tried not to disturb anyone too much lest she no longer be a welcome visitor. To her surprise, even Dawlish said hello to her.

Obviously her presence was noted long before she neared Harry's desk, but he smiled when she reached him. Not surprisingly, it was cluttered to the point that she was amazed he was able to get anything done. "You got my letter?" she inquired.

He frowned a little, "Yeah, I got it. You're still looking into it, huh?"

One hand clenched into a fist, but Hermione managed to avoid rolling her eyes or snapping at him. "My friend brought this to my attention, Harry."

"Still not gonna tell me who it is, huh?"

She shook her head.

He sighed, "Well, look, and don't get upset, okay?"

"Well, that's a great start," she frowned. "Now I'm not at all worried."

He grimaced but forged ahead. "A Death Eater's escaped from Azkaban," he said in a somewhat hushed tone. "Finding him has taken priority."

"Particularly over something that was a long-shot to begin with," she finished for him, disappointed but understanding. After a moment to gather her courage, she asked, "Who was it?"

"Rookwood."

Hermione grimaced. A former Unspeakable. Wonderful. "How come I haven't heard about this?"

"It's being kept pretty quiet," Harry admitted. "Public opinion of the Ministry is still a little shaky. The Aurors are one of the only branches getting real respect right now. Robards would prefer to contain this until Rookwood's back in custody."

"Wouldn't want anyone suggesting you couldn't do your jobs," she acknowledged, trying hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"You think Rookwood should take priority too, and you know it," Harry pointed out.

"I do," she agreed. "Doesn't mean I like the idea of more muggles drinking from that bloody goblet." She thought about it a minute and shook her head, "I just don't understand, this second case is so far removed from the first. It doesn't seem possible that the goblet made it to another town and another muggle without help."

"You think a dark wizard's behind this?" Harry wondered.

"Obviously," she snapped.

Harry's brow rose. "I think you've been spending too much time with Snape, Hermione. You're starting to talk like him."

Hermione hoped that her blush wasn't visible. "Sorry, Harry. I'm just a little stressed. I'm gonna go talk to Robards."

"Be nice!" Harry said as she stood up.

She lifted an eyebrow curiously.

"You make him angry and he takes it out on me," he explained.

Hermione smiled, "I'll be perfectly polite."

He breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded.

The office door was open, so Hermione knocked on the frame.

"Come in, Miss Granger," he said without looking up from his paperwork.

"Could I have a minute of your time, sir?"

He gestured to the seat across the desk from him.

Robards always surprised Hermione by just how ordinary he looked. Average height, unremarkable brown hair and eyes, neither handsome nor ugly… He did not look like a man that should be running the Auror office, but she knew that he'd earned the position.

He finished what he was writing and finally looked up at her, setting his quill aside. "There now, what I can do for you, Miss Granger?"

"Sir, I understand that you don't have the manpower to pursue every lead, and that some things must take priority, but I really am concerned about Bledrun's goblet."

He stared at her with no expression for a moment, then shook his head slowly, "Sure, you've been here five minutes. Naturally you're fully appraised of the biggest secret we're currently keeping."

Hermione grimaced sheepishly.

Robards waved it off. "If we can't trust Hermione Granger with a secret, I should think we'll have to start investigating Potter out there. Now, are you merely here to state your objection to my decision, or did you have something that might help?"

"Not really," she admitted. "What I have is extremely vague right now. I've actually come to ask you a question."

He nodded, inviting her to continue.

"If I can find something more conclusive, could you spare someone to investigate it?"

He leaned back in his chair for a moment, considering. "If you can give me a decent lead to follow, I'll make sure that it's not passed over. I can't spare any of my veterans until Rookwood's caught, but I'll see that the case is given to my best investigator among the recruits."

"Thank you, sir," she said relieved. "I'll get to work right away."

Hermione left Robards' office feeling hopeful. She wondered who the best investigator was. Harry maybe? No, he was better with thinking on his feet and combat oriented spells. The investigator would be more methodical. Parvati, maybe? Or Susan? She really couldn't see any of the boys being up to it.

When she reached Harry's desk to say goodbye, she found that Ron had joined him. How long had it been since she'd seen him? Christmas last? "Oh, hi Ron," she greeted, trying to act natural. She couldn't imagine why it should still be so awkward between them. They hadn't even been together all that long. Granted, the time they had been together had been rather… carnal. Heat in the beginning and fire at the end with some rather considerable chills in the middle.

"Hi, Hermione," he nodded, stuffing his fists into his pockets and rocking a little from foot to foot. She was comforted to know that she definitely wasn't acting as awkwardly as he was.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked, distracting her from Ron.

"Fine," she assured him. "I'm going to do some more research and see if I can dig up anything new."

Harry looked concerned.

"Oh for Heaven's sake, Harry!" she snapped. "Stop coddling me! People are dying. _Someone_ has to do something!"

"Sorry," he sighed. "I know I shouldn't, but I worry about you sometimes." He lowered his voice. "Most of us found ways to move on after the war – even _Malfoy_ – but I don't think you ever did."

Hermione fought down her knee-jerk defensiveness and softened a little. "Look, it's just research, okay? Reading and stuff. It's always been my forte. And besides, I have classes to plan and lead five days a week. I hardly think I'm in danger of becoming obsessed with this."

Harry blushed a little. "You're right. Sorry."

"Have you ever noticed that you apologize a lot?" she smiled.

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked warily.

"Just an observation," she laughed. "I really should be going though. I've got all that _reading _to do."

"Well, it was nice to see you," Harry grinned, coming around his desk to give her a light hug.

"You too," she nodded, then automatically turned to Ron, and stopped. She really didn't feel like hugging him, but she didn't want to insult him by not doing it right after hugging Harry.

He looked to be suffering similarly as his face crept toward the color of his hair.

After an awkward moment, Hermione just stuck out her hand and he shook it gratefully. "Good to see you, Hermione. You coming to the Burrow for Christmas this year?"

"Not sure where else I would go," she shrugged. "I'm making an appearance at my parents' house, but as they are still barely talking to me, I don't foresee that it will be a particularly long visit."

Ron nodded and Harry frowned.

"I'll see you later," she said to them both before Harry had a chance to console her yet again about her parents. They really did seem to be trying to get over the whole altering their memory and shipping them to Australia thing, but they just didn't trust her anymore. It made for brief, awkward letters, and even more awkward visits. They'd all agreed to a policy of no more lies between them – even "white" ones – in order to try to gain back that trust. Unfortunately, knowing that she was going to answer fully and truthfully just seemed to make them afraid to ask the questions.

They didn't even know that she was teaching now, she realized on her way out of the Auror office. She was going to have to send them a letter. As long as they didn't go into the details of her class curriculum, teaching was something harmless and mundane enough that it just might be a safe subject.

That happy thought made her smile and she didn't even bother returning Malfoy's glare as she passed him on the way out.

From the Ministry, Hermione apparated directly to Luna's house. It looked as weird as ever. Well, maybe a bit weirder. It had been expertly repaired from the damage done to it during the war when the Erumpent horn had exploded. What made it weirder was that the dark gray stone had been replaced by rainbow colored bricks in the damaged areas. This led Hermione to suspect that Luna had handled or at least supervised the reconstruction personally.

Taking a deep breath as she steeled herself to face Luna in her natural habitat, Hermione climbed the steps and pounded the heavy knocker. It seemed to be shaped like some sort of animal that Hermione didn't recognize. Probably a crumple-horned snorkack or something.

"Luna, the ceiling's falling!" Hermione heard Xenophilius screech inside.

"No, daddy, that's just the door," Luna replied dreamily.

"Oh. Oh, the door. Of course," the man calmed. "If it's Potter, do ask him to stay for dinner."

"We've just finished dinner, daddy."

"Right, of course we have. Did we? What did we eat?"

The door was pulled open and Luna smiled warmly. "Hermione, it's so good to see you, though I do wish you'd come a bit sooner. You could have joined us for dinner. We had soup, daddy," she said that last to her father. "Turnip soup."

"Oh, your mother makes the best turnip soup," he grinned. "Lysander dear," he bellowed as though to someone upstairs, "your soup was delicious!"

"Go upstairs and take a nap, daddy," Luna instructed him firmly but kindly.

"A nap? Oh yes, a nap would be just the thing. Wonderful idea. Luna dear, I'm just going to go upstairs and have a nap, do you need anything?"

"No, daddy."

"Okay," he started for the stairs, then did a double-take at Hermione, "Oh, Luna! You have a friend over. Why didn't you tell me? Well, she really must stay for dinner!"

"We've just had dinner, daddy," Luna told him as though she'd not said it just a minute ago. She seemed to have endless patience for the man.

Hermione suddenly felt very bad for thinking at all poorly of Luna. The girl had watched her mother die when she was nine, and now she had to deal with taking care of a father who was… Well, Hermione imagined that he required nearly as much care as a toddler.

Luna patiently went through the dinner discussion again before managing to get the man up the stairs. "I just have to give him a potion to help him sleep," Luna explained as she started to follow him. "Otherwise he dreams of Azkaban and wakes screaming."

Hermione nodded quickly.

"Make yourself at home," Luna smiled.

Hermione sat down at the kitchen table, since it was that or the old rocking chair by the window that Xenophilius had been sitting in. Luna could drive Hermione crazy with absolutely zero effort, but she was actually pretty spectacular as a witch and a person. Hermione told herself to remember that.

Hermione heard something hit the floor heavily upstairs and then Xenophilius started screaming about the ceiling falling again. He calmed shortly though and Luna soon came back down the stairs.

"I imagine that you came about the Goblet of Death," Luna stated straight away. "Do you have time to stay for tea?"

"Yes, of course," Hermione responded immediately.

Luna smiled her warm smile again and hummed softly while she fixed the tea. Once she'd given Hermione her cup, she retrieved a large box from beneath a side table and brought it back. "This will be what you're looking for," Luna explained, claiming the seat across from Hermione and sipping her tea.

"This tea is excellent," Hermione acknowledged, bending over to inspect the contents of the box.

"It is," Luna agreed thoughtfully. "I don't remember what it's called. I just remember that it comes in the red tin with a picture of a very festive house elf on it."

"Luna, what is all this?" Hermione asked curiously, gesturing toward the box filled to overflowing with a wide variety of newspapers, both wizarding and muggle, from all over Britain.

"I haven't had a chance to go through them yet," Luna admitted. "I've been collecting them since I first noticed the goblet was back. If there's anything to find, it will be in there."

Hermione nodded slowly, thinking of the countless hours of work that would be involved in sifting through all of that for what may be only one very obscure lead – if that. "Okay," she sighed, deciding not to let herself feel overwhelmed before she'd even started. Time consuming was good. She needed the distraction. She quickly shrunk the box with a _Reducio_ and slipped it into her purse.

"So how have you been, Luna?" she asked, returning her attention to her tea and her host.

Hermione ended up staying nearly another hour. She didn't actually say that much, as Luna seemed entirely capable of dominating a conversation with just the smallest encouragement. Hermione found it strangely comforting to listen to her go on, even about things that seemed utterly insane.

Talking to Luna was different from talking to anyone else. This was one woman in the whole wizarding world who neither wanted nor expected anything of Hermione.

By the time she left, Hermione found herself promising to return soon.

Marveling at the strange turn that her day had taken, Hermione apparated back to Hogwarts. She cleared her sitting room by rearranging all of her furniture to line the walls, then returned the box and papers to their proper size before sitting down the middle of the room and opening the first paper.

* * *

**Luna's part in this chapter ended up a bit larger than I'd originally intended, but it was a lot of fun to write. I really like Luna. As always, thank you so much to everyone who had reviewed this story and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I made you wait for this one, and for that I apologize, but it was worth the wait if I do say so myself.

**Content Warning: This story is rated M for a reason, even if every single chapter doesn't advertise the fact. This chapter does.**

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 26 October 2001-Friday**

Severus examined Hermione surreptitiously as she sat next to him eating her breakfast. He'd meant to talk to her about their dreams on Tuesday after classes but she'd been gone by the time he'd reached her rooms. Where she'd gone, he wasn't sure. They hadn't actually talked a lot since then. He knew that he'd been putting the conversation off, but her mood had seemed generally better. Maybe a bit distracted, but not depressed.

Still, he knew that he needed to tell her. Perhaps it was best that he'd waited until Friday. If he told her after classes, she would at least be able to leave the castle for a few days if she wanted to get away from him.

"Hermione, I'd like to speak with you later," he forced himself to say.

"We're speaking now," she pointed out.

"Privately," he frowned.

She didn't look surprised or suspicious, he noted, but then he wasn't generally much for crowds or bystanders. Everyone knew that.

"Well, I have no plans to go anywhere after classes today," she offered.

He nodded, "I will come by then."

There didn't seem to be anything more to say at that point, so they passed the rest of the meal without talking.

The day seemed to drag on, as they often did Monday through Friday between September 1st and June 28th. He had only a few students with any hope of developing any talent in potions, and far too many children attempting to blow up his lab in their ignorance. Not for the first time, he wished that he could teach only the NEWT students, and he wondered if he would be a teacher at all next year.

When the day finally ended, he wanted to go directly to Hermione's rooms, but he found himself on a path that would lead him out of the castle instead. He _was _going to tell her today. He would tell her about their shared dreams, and one way or another, things between them would never be the same again.

He lost track of time in his idle wanderings of the grounds, but he eventually admitted his own procrastination and forced himself back into the castle and all the way to her door. He hesitated only a moment before lifting his fist to knock.

He waited a little while, then knocked again, wondering if she _had _gone somewhere.

"Coming!" her voice called from within. A few moments later the door was pulled open.

Severus stared at her. Hermione's fingers were stained with ink and she had several smudges on her face. Her bushy hair was bound back in a messy bun, leaving curly strands of it dangling around her face. And she was not wearing her robes. Instead she wore muggle jeans and a t-shirt, similar to his preferred lounge wear, actually, though her jeans were a bit tighter – very favorably so. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Severus, hi," she smiled.

Severus frowned as he realized that she had evidently forgotten that they'd planned to meet. He opened his mouth to comment on it – something that likely would have been scathing – but then he glanced past her into the room and entirely forgot his intention.

She noticed his focus and stepped back. "Come on in. Try not to bump into anything."

Severus followed her into the room, taking it in slowly. Her entire sitting room had been cleared of furniture and was filled with news clippings, from both muggle and wizarding papers based on the way some photographs moved and others did not. They had been enchanted to float all over the room. Some were near the floor, others above Hermione's head, and everywhere in between. There must have been more than a hundred clippings.

"What is this?" he asked warily, noticing that every clipping seemed to bear notes penned in Hermione's hand.

"Research," she said simply, weaving her way through the room without disturbing any of the clippings, which followed her as she moved so that the front of each was always facing her.

Severus understood now why she wasn't wearing her robes. She'd have made a mess of her mess if she was dragging robes around the room. "Regarding Bledrun's goblet?" he ventured.

She nodded, her eyes on one of the articles near the floor.

"Any progress?" he asked curiously, wondering if this sort of thing was what was meant when people said that Hermione had been "obsessive" about curing him.

"Yes," she grinned, moving a few feet to her right to examine a clipping floating above her head. "At first, it was all just noise. Random bits of information that seemed in no way to be linked. I read through them for hours before I started to see the pattern," she explained, her words gradually picking up speed, as she danced across the room to view another piece. "Then I figured it out. It's simple arithmancy," she declared, peeking around a few floating clippings to flash him a smile that looked only slightly mad.

"Hermione, that is a contradiction in terms," he pointed out. He was very smart, but arithmancy was incredibly complicated.

She laughed as though he'd made a joke. "I'm getting close now. I can feel it, right there… Like a word on the tip of your tongue."

"Excuse me?" he asked uncertainly.

"Muggle saying," she said distractedly. "It refers to when you know that you know something and you can almost remember it but not quite."

"I see…"

She started muttering rapidly under her breath, nodding a little to herself. Then her eyes widened abruptly and she practically sprinted across the room to look at a specific clipping. She snatched it out of the air after a moment, then moved randomly around the room snatching up several more. When she'd collected half a dozen, she flipped through them quickly, nodding to herself. "Yes… I think that's… Yes!" She looked up at Severus with triumph in her eyes. "That's it!"

Severus wanted to ask her if she was okay, but he hadn't seen her so happy in… Well, he wasn't sure that he ever had. He didn't want to ruin it.

"I have to show this to Robards," she declared, trotting deeper into her rooms. She returned a few seconds later maneuvering into her robes with a cloak and purse clutched in one hand.

Okay, now he felt that he had to intervene. "Hermione, stop for a moment."

She paused with her arm halfway into her sleeve, studying him curiously.

He grimaced slightly as he considered how to proceed. "Perhaps you should take a moment to collect yourself before you leave."

She stared at him for a moment, then her shoulders fell slightly and she glanced around the room. "Right," she said slowly. She took a slow breath. "I'm acting mad, aren't I?"

"A bit," Severus understated.

She chuckled ruefully and shook her head. "Thank you. Harry would have staged an intervention if I'd shown up like that."

Severus grimaced at the mention of Potter. He no longer held particular animosity for the boy after all that had happened, but there was no love between them either. There never would be.

She stared pensively at her joined hands for a moment before she seemed to notice all the ink stains. She cast a quick _Scourgify_ to cleanse them, then used a charm to fasten the tiny buttons up the side of her robes. She looked at Severus then and spread her arms. "Presentable?"

Severus stepped closer to her and removed the ink from her face himself. "Better now," he smirked.

She huffed a quiet laugh in return. "Sorry. I've been told that I get a bit 'involved' in my research sometimes."

"You may also consider your hair," he noted. "Only if you are truly going for 'presentable', of course."

She quickly conjured a mirror and grimaced at her reflection, "Now that's a sight," she frowned. "It's a wonder you didn't take one look at me and leave."

"I hardly care what you look like, Hermione," he commented, then realized how bad that had sounded.

She was already sobering.

"I'd best be going," she said while Severus was still trying to think of a way to correct his last statement without sounding like a complete fool.

It wasn't until she'd left that Severus realized he'd entirely forgotten his purpose in coming to see her. With a disgruntled groan, he headed for the dungeons.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 26 October 2001-Friday**

Hermione watched Robards intently as he stared at the six news clippings she'd laid out on his desk.

"I asked you to bring me a lead," he noted. "How exactly is this a lead?"

Hermione's heart sank. It had seemed so obvious to her. "Sir, each of these articles speak of dark magic-"

"They do?" he asked doubtfully.

"Well, not directly," she admitted, mildly exasperated.

"Even if they do indicate dark magic, how do you know that they're at all related to the other two deaths, which admittedly do seem related to each other, at least."

"Sir, I used an arithmantic formula-" His eyes narrowed and she stopped there. Clearly arithmancy had never been his subject. "Okay," she tried again. "Based on the separation of these events in both time and space as well as the algorithmic differences in the type of magic that seems to have been used, I can make no other conclusion than that these events are not only related to each other, but were performed by the same dark wizard or collection of dark wizards."

Amazingly, he looked even more doubtful than before she'd explained.

"Surely you see the relevance," she stated uncertainly.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead roughly, "Honestly, Hermione, I really don't. But," he added when she opened her mouth to protest, "I can see that you do and I know how smart you are. I'm not going to dismiss it out of hand, but I don't see how we're going to make any progress unless we can understand what _you_ do. To that end, I'm going to let you meet with the investigator that I mentioned before and we'll see if you have any better luck explaining it to him."

"Okay," she said, relieved.

"There's a conference room adjacent to my office," he pointed. "I'll have him meet you there in a few minutes."

"Thank you, sir," she smiled before collecting her clippings and leaving his office.

The conference room was not overly large but it had a table to seat about fourteen squished into it. She settled down at the far end and spread her papers out on the table, silently going through what she knew and trying to figure out how to explain it properly.

When the door opened again, she looked up with a smile that slid off her face almost instantly. "Malfoy?" she asked in disbelief. "You're the best investigator Robards had to offer? Is this some kind of a joke?"

His lip curled in an ugly sneer, "How do you think I feel, Granger? Rather than helping to find Rookwood, I get to chase your stupid theories."

Hermione bristled. "I don't imagine that you would care about dead muggles, Malfoy, but perhaps you should consider that you were kept from the Rookwood investigation because he's probably an old friend of yours."

His eyes thinned to slits and Hermione wasn't sure that she'd ever seen him looking quite so angry. Her hand moved to her wand as she was convinced for a moment that he was going to hex her. His eyes followed the movement of her hand though, and he backed off slightly.

Hermione wondered if he was actually afraid of dueling her or if he merely had the sense to know better than to try something like that while he was at work. Probably the latter. She didn't think he had the sense to realize that she'd probably hex that smirk off his face long before he'd ever touch her. The punishment for dueling would come whether he won or lost.

She didn't let go of her wand though until he sat down at the other end of the table, recalling that Slytherins rarely fought fairly.

"Can we just put this shite aside for a couple hours and work together?" he glared at the table.

"Fine," Hermione relented, though she still didn't think that much would come of trying to explain this to Malfoy. She would do as Robards asked though, and then she'd go to Kingsley if she had to. Since she had no desire to get any closer to him, she used her wand to send the papers down to his end of the table. She did notice him flinch toward his wand though when hers left her sleeve. "I'm not going to hex you, Malfoy," she snapped. "I actually stand behind my word."

His jaw clenched, but he didn't respond, instead focusing his attention on reading each news clipping.

She let him finish them, then explained what she had to Robards. Surprisingly, he was nodding along. It looked as though he was following her, but he may have simply been trying to appease her. "So what do you think?" she asked when she'd finished explaining.

He seemed to consider it a moment, then nodded. "I think you're onto something," he sighed grudgingly.

"Really?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Obviously!" he snapped in reply.

Hermione blinked at him, taken aback by how much he'd sounded like Severus just there. Granted, Severus never said it with such heat, but the similarity was still uncanny. It reminded her that her most hated school rival was also Severus' godson.

Malfoy calmed somewhat when he saw her expression. "I'm not some idiot like Potter and Weasley, Granger. Bet you didn't know I was second in our class. I'd have been first any other year."

She hadn't known that, and it made her feel a little foolish. "Sorry," she acknowledged, unable to look at him or say the simple word politely.

"I don't need your apology, Granger," he sneered disdainfully. "Now that we've established that I'm not a pillock, do you think we could work on finding a lead?"

Hermione managed to withhold her sharp retort this time, but it wasn't easy. "I think you should probably start by investigating each of these instances to see if you can turn up any commonalities."

It ended up taking two more hours – most of it spent arguing about every stupid detail – before they finally decided that they'd found as much as they were going to just by staring at the six articles. Hermione left the Ministry with a budding headache and a strong urge to destroy something – preferably with her bare hands.

When she got back to her rooms, she cleaned up and rearranged her living space, then sat down at her desk with her copies of the six pertinent articles and began to go through them yet again, hoping that she might see something more than she'd been able to while arguing with Malfoy.

/\*/\*/\

Hermione looked around the dark, decrepit house with a knot growing steadily larger in her stomach. There was something very wrong here. Something dark and malign that had nothing to do with lighting or décor.

Wand in hand, she disillusioned herself, then stalked slowly down the hall. There was a set of broad, once-ornate double doors at the end of the hall. She paused to listen carefully for a moment before cracking one open.

The instant that a sliver of light appeared in the crack, the most horrible scream ripped through the air. Barely managing to avoid screaming in response, Hermione edged the door open just a little more to peek inside.

An icy chill swept from her head to her toes when the first face she saw was the pale, reptilian face of Voldemort. She stood frozen for a long moment, until the screams finally registered as that of a young boy. She shook herself then, changing her angle on the crack so that she could see more of the room.

A ring of death eaters surrounded the writhing boy in the middle of the room and Hermione's stomach turned as she recalled being in that position only too well. She'd only been lucky that Voldemort hadn't been there or she knew she'd not have survived.

At last the curse was lifted and the boy wept almost silently.

"It's your turn, Severus," one smiling voice said.

Hermione's heart plummeted. Severus was one of those cloaked Death Eaters. She found herself moving without having made a decision to do so, stepping into the room slowly.

No one took any notice of her appearance, even Voldemort, though she was in open view of him. Sometime between then and circling the Death Eaters to locate Severus among the unmasked bunch, she realized that she was dreaming.

Severus didn't seem to see her as he pointed his wand at the boy and expressionlessly cast his _Crucio_.

Her stomach flipped so violently than she nearly gagged as those screams filled the room again, this time caused by Severus. Her Severus.

She stared at him in blank horror for what seemed an eternity before finally focusing on the depths of his black eyes. Then she saw it. Pain. Utter torment lying deep beneath the inky surface. He was in agony at cursing the boy, but he had no choice. Voldemort would kill him if he refused, and the Order would lose their top spy. Tears filled her eyes to see him in that position. How many times had he endured such things?

His eyes lifted slowly from the boy and they met hers. Unlike everyone else in the room, he was seeing her. The pain she'd seen in his eyes suddenly filled his face.

"No," he whispered.

/\*/\*/\

Hermione gasped as she woke in her own darkened bedroom, and then whimpered as the pain cut through her head. She fumbled her hand onto her side table and found the headache draught she'd been keeping there since the last time she'd woken with that mother of a headache. She drank it down and waited for the pain to ebb before trying to think.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 27 October 2001-Saturday**

Severus rolled over and fumbled in the drawer of his nightstand until he'd located the headache draught that he'd been keeping there since Hermione had shoved him out of their dream. It was his fault this time, he knew.

He drank down the potion, and it began to ease his headache but he felt no better as he recounted the dream. Even with the shared dreams, he'd never expected Hermione to bear witness to something like that. He couldn't imagine how he'd ever tell her the truth of the dreams now. If she knew that the dreams were real, she'd know that that had really been his nightmare – that he'd really tortured children.

Once his head had calmed enough, he cast a quick Tempus. Three o'clock. With a sigh, he got out of bed. Regardless of the time, he knew that he wasn't going back to sleep tonight – or maybe tomorrow night either. He needed to figure out how to stop these dreams before Hermione saw something else. God forbid, something worse.

With that in mind, he went to his bookcase and found _Dream Phenomena_. He paged through to the chapter about shared dreams and began to review it. He couldn't remember if there was any way to stop sharing dreams, but he thought there must be. An Occlumency discipline or some form of mental shielding potion.

A knock startled him and he looked toward his door. Who could possibly be knocking at this hour? Concerned that it may be some kind of emergency, he hurried toward the door without pausing to even put on his dressing gown.

He opened the door expecting Minerva or perhaps another professor – probably anyone except Hermione, though he should have realized that she would definitely be awake as well.

He stared at the bushy-haired witch standing outside his rooms in her dressing gown, and he could not think of one thing to say. Had she figured it out? Had she come to him to tell him how disgusted she was? How much she loathed him? Or perhaps, he dared to hope, she'd come looking for a dreamless sleep potion to prevent any further nightmares.

She wasn't speaking either, which probably wasn't a good sign. She was staring hard into his eyes, but he felt no pressure against his shields.

"Hermione," he finally managed, her name sounding at least half plea. He had no idea what to say to her, but the thought of her hating him was tearing him apart.

She took two slow steps forward until she was craning her neck to look up at his face, their bodies nearly touching.

He opened his mouth, unsure what he was going to say, and she rose suddenly to her toes, her hands tangling into his hair and dragging him down until their lips crushed together.

Severus responded after just a moment of shock, turning and pinning her body to the door frame as he sought to explore every corner of her mouth.

He wasn't sure how long it went on, but by the time his senses caught up to him, her dressing gown was open at the front considerably more than was really decent, and he could practically see through the thin shirt she wore beneath it.

Forcing himself to move away from her, he averted his eyes, trying to catch his breath. "Hermione, what…? What's come over you?" he demanded.

"Severus, you insufferable man!" she snapped at him.

He winced.

"Can I make my desires any plainer?" she demanded.

When he merely stared at her, she angrily tugged on the cord of her robe, then dropped the garment onto the floor behind her. She stood there in that tiny white top and shorts that probably contained even less material glaring at him like she was considering the best hex to throw at him first – her wand was still in its sheath on her forearm, so she may not have ruled it out.

She took a few steps closer to him. "No?" she asked more quietly.

Severus watched in bewildered, lustful disbelief as Hermione tugged that little shirt over her head and sent that to the floor as well, leaving herself naked above the waist.

"Now?" she asked softly, closing the last few steps so that her naked chest was very nearly brushing his with each breath.

He closed his mouth and tried to swallow around his very dry throat.

"Severus," she whispered, looking up at him. "If you don't touch me soon, I may explode."

That temptation was too much. Severus flushed every misgiving from his mind and yanked her into a rough kiss, forcing her mouth to open around his tongue. She moaned so wonderfully in response that he thought he'd go mad from the sound alone. His hands moved quickly down the velvety skin of her naked back and gripped her arse possessively for a moment before hoisting her up to his level.

Her lips left his long enough for her to gasp, "Bedroom, now!"

Severus had never before been with a woman so bossy. It was astonishing how much he enjoyed it. As he entirely agreed with her assertion, he carried her to his bedroom without his lips ever leaving hers and fell over her on the bed.

She groaned pleasantly and her hands dug into his rear while her legs coiled around him. She stilled briefly and Severus had only just had time to wonder about it when his pants abruptly vanished.

He absolutely growled in arousal, angling his hips to crush his aching member into her still clothed crotch.

She cried out in response, and Severus used that moment to repeat her vanishing charm on her last remaining clothing, closing his eyes and scraping together his concentration to be sure that he focused the wandless magic just right. He forced himself into her immediately and one cry bled into the next, louder one.

Severus would never know how long it lasted. He was beyond such meager concepts as time. No words passed between them. Even exclamations came out wordlessly. Desires were conveyed through eyes and bodies.

It was intense and animalistic in a way that he'd never before even imagined. When he felt his release nearing, his eyes found hers and he discovered her looking right back. He rode all the way through it that way, staring into her eyes as she stared into his, as the world was torn asunder and made anew. The depth of that moment was… Utterly indescribable.

He finally collapsed, rolling off her so he didn't crush her comparatively tiny frame. It was some time before he felt capable of speech. "What the bloody hell was that, Hermione?" he finally demanded.

"Fantastic," she breathed, drawing the word out slightly.

Irritated, Severus rolled onto his side to look at her and was rather shocked by the dreamy smile on her face as she lay there with her eyes closed – completely naked and so beautiful it still took his breath away.

"_That_ is not what I meant," he pointed out, trying to maintain the irritation in his voice.

With a soft sigh, she turned her face toward him and opened her eyes. She scanned his face, but there was still a little smile on her lips as though she couldn't help it. After a moment, her eyes trailed lower and her hand followed, lightly tracing the scars on his chest. "How long have you known about our dreams?" she asked quietly.

Severus winced. He hesitated briefly before admitting, "After the second one."

Her eyes snapped back up to his, searching. "You knew then? When you told me…"

He nodded slowly, "When I told you that I loved you? Yes."

She swallowed hard, her eyes returning to his chest. Amazingly, she didn't seem at all bothered by the scars.

"I don't expect you to say it," he offered, pretty sure about the direction of her thoughts.

She frowned.

"I'm forty-one years old, Hermione," he said since she seemed uncomfortable. "I've lived long enough to know what I want when I see it. I don't expect the same from you."

She nodded slowly.

"I do, however, hope that this wasn't merely about tonight," he admitted, since all of his cards were on the table now – so to speak.

"No!" she replied immediately, evidently shocked by the suggestion.

He smiled at that.

"Of course not," she added a little more calmly. "Severus, I have been infatuated with you for months," she blushed.

He absolutely loved it that she could blush at saying that after what they'd just finished doing. "I'm glad."

She smiled and then slid closer to fit her body against his, tucking her head under his chin while he wrapped his arms around her gratefully.

* * *

**That was all a bit sudden, I know, but it's Severus and Hermione. Very little in their relationship has seemed to happen in the right order. Don't worry, they will eventually get around to talking. Expect the next chapter to be heavy on fluff. This will be posted tomorrow morning as usual. **

**Thanks so much to everyone who has taken interest in this story, and especially to those of you who've reviewed. Every single one makes me smile.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I was really sick yesterday. It took me the entire day, but I did manage to get this chapter done. If it's not quite as good as usual, that would be why.

**Content Warning:** I did go light on the smut in this chapter. I'll apologize if I've disappointed you, but I see the smut as accenting the plot in this story, not driving or dominating it – and I could have very easily made this chapter primarily smut. Fear not, there is still much fluffy goodness to enjoy, and possibly another lemon or two to come in future chapters.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 27 October 2001-Saturday**

Hermione woke surrounded in warmth and silk and the scent of Severus. She was almost afraid to open her eyes for fear that this dream may disappear. While she was decently sure that she wasn't literally dreaming, there was always the chance that Severus may change his mind about all those wonderful things he'd said.

She only had to lean forward a very little bit to press her lips to the warm chest against which she was cradled.

His arms tightened around her for a moment so she knew that he was awake.

"Does that mean that you're not going to run away from me?" his voice questioned lightly.

She pulled back enough to frown at him. "What is that supposed to mean? I am not the kind of woman to fall into a bed with a man without even getting to know him after."

He chuckled in that maddeningly sexy way that he had, and leaned forward to kiss her lips softly. When he drew away, there was concern in his eyes.

"What?" she asked uncertainly.

"I was just wondering what happens now," he admitted.

"I'm not exactly sure," she admitted, a bit embarrassed. She hadn't actually thought that far ahead when she'd come to his rooms. When she'd finally realized the truth about their dreams, she'd only known that Severus had wanted her as she wanted him and she'd set out with the intention of beating her way through his cursed barriers by any means necessary. She hadn't actually intended it to be sexual means until she'd actually found herself face-to-face with the man – and he hadn't been wearing a shirt...

"Well, let's start simple," he suggested. "You do want to be with me more than physically?"

"Of course," she blushed. She'd come at this completely backwards. Talking about a relationship should come before consummating it, regardless of how she'd teased him.

"That's a relief," he smiled quietly, then moved on before she could comment. "Do we tell anyone about this development?"

"Why wouldn't we?" she asked, bewildered.

He stared at her for a moment, then kissed her again. "It has not even occurred to you how people may react to this revelation? Minerva? Poppy…?"

"Oh, Minerva's known since start of term," she dismissed.

His eyes widened.

"She's one of my best friends, Severus," Hermione admonished. "I spoke to her about it right after I became aware of my feelings."

"When was that?" he asked quietly after a moment to absorb what she said.

"Just before start of term," she admitted. "When we talked about what I'd done over the summer."

"You jerked away from me when I touched you," he remembered, confused. "I had thought that my touch had disturbed you."

"No!" she gasped, "That wasn't it at all!"

"Then why?" he asked curiously.

She sighed. "I was, at that moment, trying to come to terms with the fact that I had just discovered how attracted to you I really was. I didn't know what to make of it. I didn't think that you could ever share such feelings, having known me since I was a silly first year. Honestly, what disturbed me was how much I enjoyed your touch."

"Really?" he smiled with interest.

"Obviously," she drawled in imitation of him.

He smiled in response to her teasing. "You are very much a woman now, Hermione," he assured her, running a finger gently down the side of her face. "In every way. A blind fool could ascertain that much after a quarter hour's conversation."

"I imagine that would be a rather droll quarter hour," she noted, eliciting another enticing chuckle.

His mirth faded and he studied her seriously again. "But we were discussing our… relationship," he reminded her, saying the last word like he wasn't certain she would approve of it.

"Whether or not we should announce that we're a couple," she said firmly, just to set the record straight.

He smiled beautifully at that and leaned forward to kiss her again. She couldn't seem to get enough of them and he appeared to be suffering similarly. The kiss heated and deepened and lasted several minutes before their lips parted.

"Have you told Potter and Weasley as well then?" he asked once they'd both caught their breath.

Her eyes widened at the thought and she shuddered slightly. "No. And that _will _be a conversation…" she considered it for a moment.

"We don't need to tell anyone right away," he consoled, but she could hear the regret behind his tone.

Hermione leaned up on her elbow and looked down at him. "Severus, I am not ashamed to be with you," she assured him firmly. "No doubt some of my friends will take some time to get used to the idea, but I would be proud for the world to know that I've managed to secure your heart."

He stared into her eyes and she felt his mind brush hers in that soft way that suggested it was unconscious.

After just a moment of hesitation, she let him pass her shield and readily presented him with the memories that she knew he wanted. How gorgeous she found him, how much his touch and kisses excited her, the affection and respect she felt for him, and how completely flattered she was that he wanted her in return.

His eyes widened before she secured her mind once more and he stared at her in disbelief.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 27 October 2001-Saturday**

Severus' eyes grew wide as she laid bare her emotions to him. He hadn't even realized that he'd been touching her mind until she'd opened it, flooding his mind with the bits she'd wanted him to see. Respect, affection, attraction, arousal, appreciation, and more which were not as easy to put a name to. In his entire life, bullied by his father, bullied in school, and an outcast as an adult, Severus had never seen himself as attractive until that very moment. Through her eyes.

He didn't know if he wanted to laugh, cry, or just shag the gorgeous witch. In the end, he simply leaned up and kissed her softly, savoring the flashes of cold and heat that raising gooseflesh on his arms as they chased each other through his body in response to her lips meeting his. "I would like to reciprocate," he whispered when he drew away from her.

Her eyes widened, "Severus, you don't need to-"

"I know," he interrupted. "I want to. Words are not enough to describe what I feel."

She hesitated briefly, and then he felt the tentative pressure of her mind. He lowered his barrier at once, presenting her with the thoughts he wished to convey. They were not much different from hers in context. How beautiful she was to him, how entertaining and engaging he found his conversations with her, the way that he felt when she touched him and kissed him, the feeling of his heart fluttering madly every time she looked into his eyes with such affection, and his respect for her intelligence and appreciation of her lust for gathering ever more knowledge. He added to that his memory of their first kiss, how it had lit him on fire and burned him to ashes in moments, and his reasoning and regret for withdrawing and dismissing her so suddenly. Then he added his memory of how beautiful he'd found her when she'd answered her door covered in ink, in muggle clothes, and with her hair a complete mess. Finally, he gave her his memory of her visit from the night before – his doubt, wonder, and joy in discovering that she wanted him.

She shuddered slightly as she came out of his mind, and her eyes focused on his hesitantly. "Severus, I don't even know what to say," she whispered. "I expect that this is going to sound incredibly foolish, and please don't be angry with me, but I truly don't feel worthy of such esteem."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, then he reached up to grasp her shoulders before roughly rolling them so that he was looking down on her.

She gasped and regarded him warily.

"Hermione Granger, you are worthy of so much more," he told her sternly. "You are brave to a fault and even more loyal to those you deem worthy. Your intelligence is of a level that comes maybe once in a generation, and your passion for everything that you do is more impressive still. You're assertive, stunningly beautiful, and you are compassionate enough to see the worth in someone like me even when I have put such effort into pushing everyone away. You saved my life, and then you gave me a reason to cherish it.

"So I don't care if it makes you uncomfortable," he smirked. "I am completely in love with you. You're going to have to get used to that fact."

She bit her lower lip, drawing his attention to it. Then she tangled her hands in his hair, yanking him down to crush those amazing lips into his. Her legs curled around his back in an amazingly strong grip and she ground her hips into him, yanking a groan from his throat.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 27 October 2001-Saturday**

It was lunch time when they finally made it out of bed, but the house elf gladly served them breakfast in Severus' room.

Hermione couldn't help but notice that Severus was staring at her an awful lot when she was trying to eat. "What?" she finally demanded.

"I still can't believe that you're here," he admitted. "In this context."

She smiled and tried not to blush, "Honestly, neither can I. Before last night, I had convinced myself that my only recourse was to get over you and try to maintain our friendship."

"Don't you dare ever try to get over me again," he warned seriously.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she chuckled, then sobered. "I would like to wait a day or two before making our relationship known," she admitted. "At least until I can tell Harry. I'd hate for him to have to find out from someone else."

"He'd never believe it," Severus huffed.

"True," she had to agree. She considered him a moment, "Is there anyone that you would want to… warn?"

He smirked, "Draco perhaps."

Hermione really did try not to grimace, but Severus saw it anyway.

"Don't worry, I don't expect the two of you to suddenly become friends." He studied the food on his plate. "I know that he was horrid to you in school."

"An understatement," she huffed, "but it did go both ways," she admitted. "Considering that my best friend was Voldemort's mortal enemy and Draco's parents were Death Eaters…" she sighed, "Well, it think it was rather inevitable that we would be enemies."

Severus nodded thoughtfully, "The same of us, I suppose."

She shook her head slowly, "If only you weren't so bloody sexy, perhaps I could have retained the animosity."

The way his eyes raked over her at that made her shiver excitedly. "Keep it up and we won't make it through breakfast," he warned.

Hermione bit her lip over her grin and tried to focus on her food at least a little. She really hadn't been eating as much as she should lately between Severus and her research distracting her. And her nightmares taking her appetite most mornings.

After they'd eaten, Hermione reluctantly had to admit that she had a lot of papers to mark before Monday morning and Severus had work of his own. She made a quick trip up to her rooms to gather what she needed, then transfigured one of his extra chairs into a second desk and set it up next to his in his study. They worked in companionable silence for some time, occasionally sharing remarks about their students.

She looked up when she heard Severus muttering irritably. "What's the matter?" she asked curiously.

"Miss Woodmoore," he groused. "One of my fifth years. She is generally a very talented young woman – I had expected to see her next year, in fact – but this paper is deplorable. It is patently obvious that she read only one book, copied the thesis nearly verbatim, and put no original thought into it at all."

"Everyone can have an off day," Hermione consoled. "Perhaps she's having some personal issues."

"Are you suggesting I give her a pass based upon past performance?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm suggesting that you don't mark it at all," Hermione offered. "Talk to her in her next class. If she does seem to have a legitimate excuse, offer her the chance to try rewriting the paper and putting a bit more effort into it. If not, mark it with the grade it deserves."

"So I am now to encourage my students to make excuses for poor performance?"

"Severus," Hermione smiled, "I think we both know that you're about as approachable as Hagrid's three-headed dog. It's unlikely that she'd feel comfortable coming to you if she was having trouble with something."

Severus sighed heavily and stared at the parchment in front of him for a moment. Finally, he moved it over to the other pile without marking anything on it.

Hermione hid her smile by ducking her head back to her own work. Severus really did have the capacity to be a wonderful teacher if he could be just a touch more understanding. And a bit less terrifying.

After working a little longer, Hermione realized that she needed to send a letter to Harry. Digging a spare parchment out of her robes, she wrote him a brief letter, informing him that she would like to speak with him privately and asking him to let her know when he could stop by Hogwarts.

"I'm going up to the Owlery to send a letter to Harry," she informed Severus as she got up.

"You're going to tell him in a letter?" he asked, surprised.

"No," she smiled. "He'd most likely think it a forgery. I've just asked him to meet me here when he has time." She walked around his desk to brush a chaste kiss across his lips. She started to step around him when his hand closed around her wrist, yanking her back to him. Their lips met again and there was nothing chaste about it this time.

By the time she came up for breath, he'd managed to maneuver her into his lap. "I really should send this letter," she murmured, never wanting to move from that spot.

"I know," he smiled. "I just wanted to give you incentive to hurry back to me."

"I've never wished more that it was possible to apparate within Hogwarts," she smirked. She kissed him again, but drew away before she got lost in it. "We'll continue this conversation when I return," she promised as she regretfully left his lap.

She walked slowly toward the door, trying to compose herself before entering the public passageways. She smoothed down her hair as she stepped into the hall, then ran her hands down the robes she'd transfigured that morning from her dressing gown. They were a bit tighter and prettier than what she usually wore, but then her mind had been so full of Severus when she'd done it, she was vaguely surprised that it hadn't ended up transparent. Imagining the expression on his face made her smile.

"Don't bother, dear," Elizabeth's voice goaded as the portrait swung closed. "All one need do is look at the silly smirk on your face to see what you've been doing."

Hermione clenched her jaw and glared at the portrait.

"Ah, now that's more like it," Elizabeth chuckled, absently plucking a few strings on her violin.

Hermione opened her mouth to snap a reply.

"Hermione?" Minerva's voice interrupted.

Hermione spun on the headmistress, for some reason feeling like she'd been caught wandering the halls after hours.

"I've been looking for you all day," Minerva frowned. "When you didn't come to dinner, I decided that I'd have to go find you."

"Is it dinner time already?" Hermione blinked.

"Time does tend to fly when one spends half the day in bed," Elizabeth smirked.

Hermione's jaw clenched, "Minerva, if you don't do something about that portrait, I fear something terrible shall happen to it."

"I admit, I sent her down here because I couldn't stand her constant complaining about the sunlight in the north tower," Minerva noted, but the way she was looking at Hermione suggested that her thoughts were elsewhere.

With one more glare at Elizabeth, Hermione took Minerva's arm lightly to lead her away from the insufferable portrait before she torched it.

"I haven't seen Severus all day either," Minerva mentioned innocently.

Hermione bit her lower lip but couldn't completely contain her grin as she glanced at the older woman.

"Really?" Minerva positively glowed. "Honestly, I was beginning to think that the two of you would be dancing around each other all year!"

"We had a bit of help," Hermione admitted. "What do you know about shared dreams?"

Minerva frowned thoughtfully. "I know that they're incredibly rare and that a very strong bond seems to be essential. I don't think anyone really knows all that much about them."

Hermione sighed, "That's what I thought I remembered."

"Are you sharing dreams with Severus?" Minerva asked, lowering her voice as they left the dungeons and entered more populated corridors. Of course, being late on a Saturday, there still weren't too many people around.

Hermione nodded. "Four so far. Starting in the middle of last month."

"Four?" Minerva blinked.

"And they started before we were even that close," Hermione continued. "Well, after the first time we kissed," she admitted.

Minerva had that stupid grin on her face again. "A month and a half ago?"

"It was just one kiss," Hermione scowled.

"But there have been more since," the older witch said hopefully.

"As of today."

Minerva wrapped Hermione in a quick hug, "I'm so happy for you, Hermione."

And so Hermione was grinning like an idiot when Harry came around the corner.

"Ah, there you are," he smiled. "I've just come from your rooms…" he trailed off as he looked between the two of them. "Did I miss something?" he asked curiously.

"Excuse me, Hermione. Harry," Minerva said quickly.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, watching the headmistress leave.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Hermione asked, surprised to see him.

"Can't a guy stop by to see his mate?" Harry asked innocently.

"You came to check on me," Hermione sighed as she started toward her quarters.

"Come on, Hermione. Don't be like that," Harry complained as he hurried to catch up. "You know we're just worried about you."

"We? I assume you're here on behalf of Ginny as well then."

"And Molly," he agreed.

Hermione sighed. While it felt good to know that they cared, she really could have done without the mothering.

"Are you in a hurry?" Harry asked when she skipped up the steps by twos.

"Actually, I kind of am," she admitted, thinking of Severus waiting for her and the "conversation" they had yet to finish.

"Felicity," she said to the statue guarding her door and it swung open.

Harry looked surprised. "Felicity?" he wondered.

"It felt right at the time," she shrugged. She'd changed it to that after brewing Dryke's Felicity with Severus – and what had followed. Today, it actually seemed to fit, since she was incredibly happy. "Tea?" she asked as she started toward her kitchen.

"Thanks," Harry nodded.

Hermione returned shortly with the tea and they settled in front of her hearth. She had to light it as it had gone out. Harry seemed to notice that detail, but he didn't immediately say anything.

"I was actually on my way to send you a letter when I met you," she started.

"Is everything okay?" he worried.

She tried to glare at him for assuming the worst, but she was still too full of bliss to properly manage it. "More than okay, actually," she smiled instead. "I've started dating someone."

Harry's eyes widened in perfect surprise and then he smiled wide. "Hermione, that's great! I suppose that means that Ginny and Molly can stop conspiring to find you a date."

Hermione sighed, unsurprised. "Yes. Please be sure that they do."

"So is it serious?" he pressed.

"Quite," she admitted. "It's a rather new development, but it's really been building for months."

"So do I know him?"

Hermione tried not to grimace. "You do," she said as lightly as she could.

"Shall I guess?" he laughed.

She cleared her throat softly and looked into her tea rather than at him. "It's Severus," she admitted, refusing to be embarrassed about it, but wary of his response nonetheless.

For a moment, Harry said nothing. She chanced a glance up at his face to see him looking perfectly confused.

"Severus who?" he prompted.

"Severus Snape," she snapped.

Harry swallowed hard as he digested that. "You're… _dating_ Snape? The bloke who spent twenty years pining after my mum?"

"Harry James Potter!" she growled furiously. "How can you say something like that? You owe him your life! More than once."

Harry blushed and studied his tea. "Sorry. God, that was stupid. You just _really_ surprised me there." He huffed a deep breath. "Okay. So… You and Snape. Wow. Congratulations."

She relaxed some and smiled again. "Thank you, Harry. I am really happy about this."

He nodded thoughtfully and was quiet for a moment. "I guess I just never had any idea that you saw him that way."

"I didn't until just before start of term," she admitted. "I've been going somewhat crazy about it since then."

"So you're a couple now?" he asked as though he was still having a difficult time processing that.

"Officially as of this morning," she nodded, that stupid smile tugging at her lips against her will.

Harry studied her a moment, then his smile grew. "Well, I'm really happy for you, Hermione. Course Ron's gonna go completely mental when he finds out."

Hermione grimaced. Ron had accused her several times of having a "thing" for Severus when she'd been trying to cure him. Even though he was completely wrong at the time, this was just going to validate everything in his eyes. Oh well. He'd get over it. Probably.

"Is there any chance that you'd tell him?" she asked hopefully. If she thought Harry's reaction had been bad, it was nothing next to what Ron's would be. She'd rather not confront him until he'd had time to get used to the idea.

"Of course," Harry smiled. "So, is Snape the friend that you won't tell me about?" he asked innocently.

"No," Hermione frowned. "Harry, you know that I trust you, right?"

He nodded.

"Then please trust me. It really is for the best if my friend remains anonymous." She knew that if Harry promised not to tell anyone about Luna, he would stand by that. She also knew that his doubt would come out regardless in something that he said or a face that he made. If Robards saw that, her case would be in serious jeopardy.

"Fine," he sighed. "I saw that Draco got the case," he added with a grimace.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded, deciding right then that she was going to try to be nicer to Draco. "He might actually be good for it," she allowed, doing her best not to sound bitter about it. "He's actually pretty knowledgeable in arithmancy, which is basically what the whole case is centered around right now."

Harry looked at her strangely.

"He's Severus' godson, Harry," she admitted quietly.

Recognition lit his eyes. "That's right. So, ah, are you like friends with him now?"

She appreciated the fact that he seemed to be trying to keep the judgment out of his voice. "No," she smiled. "The last time I saw him we came pretty close to a duel, actually. Severus is close to him though. For his sake, I have to at least try to be nicer to him."

Harry looked amazed. "Wow, you really care about him, don't you?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but, I mean… Don't take this the wrong way, but whatever Snape did for me and all of us, the man was still a git when we were in school. If you care about him, that's all I need to know. Just try to understand why this is hard for me to get my head around."

Hermione nodded, "Believe me, I remember. He's been changing since he woke up though. He was a spy for a very long time. It'll take him some time to adjust to not having to keep the world at arm's length for his protection or theirs. I know this will be hard for you to believe, but he really is sweet with me. Rather astonishingly so, actually."

Harry shook his head, "Yeah. No, I can't picture that."

"He's waiting for me," she admitted with a small blush. "I really should get back to him."

"Oh," Harry blinked. "Right. I should be going anyway. I'm sure Ginny's eaten without me by now, but she hates to go to bed alone."

Hermione smiled. "You're becoming rather alarmingly domestic, Harry."

He laughed as he got up. "Give it time, Hermione. You'll be the same way."

She paled a bit at that. Regardless of Severus telling her that he loved her, she couldn't picture herself being "domestic".

He laughed harder when he looked at her, then started for the door.

Hermione flicked her wand to send the tea cups to the kitchen, then followed Harry out.

"Oh, Harry!" she called as they began to part ways. "Please wait a few days to tell Ron. I think that Severus wanted to tell Draco personally and you know Ron won't be able to keep it quiet at work."

Harry nodded and waved before disappearing around the corner.

Hermione turned quickly and headed back down to the dungeons.

"Open," she glared at Elizabeth.

The portrait raised an eyebrow. "You two really are perfect for each other." Then she swung open.

Hermione hid her smile as she stepped inside.

Severus was there almost immediately, stooping to kiss her soundly.

She sighed happily when he drew away from her. "It is absurd how much I missed you," she laughed.

"What kept you?" he inquired as he began leading her to the sofa.

She curled up on his lap and draped one arm over his shoulder, lacing her fingers into his on her lap. "Minerva found me almost as soon as I stepped outside your rooms."

She felt his shoulders tense slightly. "I imagine that you told her then," he reasoned somewhat stiffly.

Hermione laughed. "She saw this stupid smile that I can't seem to get rid of, and there was no need to 'tell' her anything."

He kissed her lightly. "I rather love it that you can't stop smiling."

She kissed her way softly down his neck and felt him stirring beneath her before she drew away to continue explaining. "Harry came to see me. I gather that was why Minerva was looking for me."

"You spoke to Harry as well?"

Hermione grinned at him. "Did you just call him Harry?"

Severus sighed, "Well, he is your best friend. I thought I could at least try it."

"And what do you think?" she posed.

"A little bitter," he admitted, "but I imagine that I could get used to it if I tried."

She kissed him again for that, but her playful nips soon deepened. She was gasping for breath by the time he pulled away.

"Enough about Harry," he declared. "It's getting quite late. I think it was past time we were in bed." With that, he picked her up and started for the bedroom.

"You're tired?" she asked slyly.

"Not in the slightest," he assured her.

* * *

**Tomorrow we'll be back to plot thickening as Bledrun's Last Drink strikes again! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and a special thank you to everyone who takes the time to review after every chapter. If you have any questions or concerns to note, send me a message. I'm generally very good about responding.**

**Thanks again, and I hope you're enjoying!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: **I know that I've slighted you all terribly by failing to produce this chapter yesterday as promised, but I'm afraid that I had a bit of a plot bunny revolt. I was forced to spend the entire day trying to round them up. Happily, with the help of a charming little story called Heart over Mind by Regann that I found on this site, I was able to get the little buggers back on my side. With any luck they'll stay that way as the conclusion of this story comes together.

**Content Warning:** I'm sorry. Please don't yell.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 29 October 2001-Monday**

After spending virtually the entire weekend closeted away in Severus' rooms, Monday morning came as a rather depressing descent into reality. They'd decided that she would depart first so they wouldn't cause too much gossip by arriving together, but their goodbye kiss had ended up making her a few minutes late for breakfast.

Minerva smiled conspiratorially as Hermione took her seat at the staff table. "Did you have a good weekend, Hermione?"

"Quite enjoyable, yes," Hermione responded with dignity.

The older witch had a mischievous glint in her eyes, but she didn't comment on it further as Hermione started to eat.

Severus arrived perhaps five minutes later, looking just as mouthwatering as he had when she'd left him.

"Good morning, Severus," she greeted cordially.

"Hermione," he returned with a minimal nod in her direction.

After a moment, her hand found his discreetly under the table and he squeezed lightly. Transferring her fork to her left hand, Hermione resumed eating, to all the world looking as though she paid no particular mind to the grumpy-looking potions' professor at her side. In truth, her entire person was focused on him so fully that she hardly knew what she'd eaten when at last she absolutely had to get to her classroom to prepare for her first years. She squeezed his hand once more before releasing it and leaving the table.

Severus had made plans for tea with Draco at Malfoy Manor – which Draco now owned as his parents were in Azkaban for what would probably be the remainder of their lives. That was set for Saturday morning, so Hermione's relationship with Severus would remain concealed until then. She still wasn't exactly sure how they'd announce it after. That wasn't really the sort of announcement one gave over the dinner feast.

Deciding not to let herself fret about it – for now – she turned her focus to her upcoming classes.

The week passed with Hermione spending most of her time outside of classes with Severus in his rooms. She hadn't been in her quarters long enough for them to really feel like home, so she was happy to join him. As long as she was with him, she didn't really care where she was anyway.

They spent a lot of their time marking papers and planning lessons or working together on potions, mostly for Poppy. Hermione particularly enjoyed the potions. She loved Severus' passionate enthusiasm for anything potions and she found that she shared it – if not exactly to the same degree. He taught her many tricks for the more advanced potions, many of which she could manage with a good recipe, but not to the point that she could tweak them to perfection as he could.

"I've no doubt that you will come to rival my skill of potions one day," he complimented one day when she was noting how significantly his skill surpassed her own.

She'd snorted in a most unladylike fashion. "I very much doubt that I will ever _surpass _you, Severus, but I have every intention of becoming equally skilled. I don't care how many hours I have to spend sweating over steaming caldrons with you to learn it."

That comment had resulted in a stasis spell on the brewing potion and some quality time finding other reasons to sweat.

On Wednesday, Hermione left Severus after classes to go to her own quarters for a change. She wished desperately that Severus had already spoken to Draco so that they could attend the Halloween ball properly as a couple – _that _would be a handy way to make it known to the entire school at once. Instead, they'd be attending separately as two single professors.

Still, just knowing that he would be there caused Hermione to put a great deal of effort into her appearance. She'd even researched a new charm to use on her hair. After an exhaustive amount of contemplation on the subject, Hermione had at last decided on her costume – a wizarding storybook character that reminded her a bit of Snow White's wicked stepmother.

She used one charm to color her hair black enough to rival Severus' raven mane, then the new charm to straighten it until it could rival poured water. Though she'd tested the spell the day before, it still amazed her to see just how very long her hair had gotten. In its natural bushy state, it only reached halfway down her back – now it was passed her hips.

Her gown matched her hair color, with thin straps to hold up the bodice and long sleeves that draped off her shoulders. The front was modestly cut but the back was plunging. The skirt touched the floor in the back in uneven layers of heavy fabric that gave it a certain wild look. Her boots had low heels since she'd never really learned to move in the high ones, but they were mostly concealed by the skirt anyway.

Using a combination of magic and muggle makeup, she ringed her eyes in black in the shape of a candle's flame pointing toward her temples. Her lips were a red so dark as to be nearly black. She elongated her eyelashes a bit before coating them in black masquera, and added just a hint of pale, glittery blush to her cheeks.

She finished it with jewelry that she'd transfigured – sparkly crystal earrings that dangled at her collar bones and a necklace that swept down in a V toward her very modest cleavage. As an afterthought, she transfigured one of her rings to match and fitted it on her right ring finger.

When she was finished, she examined the drawing in her book one more time and compared it against her appearance. Satisfied, she gave a little twirl in front of her mirror and hoped that Severus would be pleased.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 31 October 2001-Wednesday**

Severus did try to make an effort to avoid scowling at everyone – student and teacher alike – unfortunate enough to meet his eyes, but he was not greatly successful. He hated all forms of social gatherings in general. Balls he hated particularly. In part, that stemmed from so many years as a spy. Whenever he found himself surrounded by people, his paranoia hitched up a notch, leaving him hyperaware of everyone in his vicinity as he subconsciously waited to be attacked from behind. It was not a pleasant feeling.

The other part of the distaste could – he ruefully admitted to himself – be traced back to his days as a student. Though his mother had ensured that he was a quite skilled classical dancer through her own private lessons, he'd never had anyone to dance with while he attended Hogwarts. There had been Lily in his first year, but he'd been teased so mercilessly after that – mostly by Potter and his cohorts – that he'd never done it again.

He'd warned Hermione that he simply would not lower himself to dressing in a silly costume for the entire school to see. He recalled that she'd been neither surprised nor disappointed by that, which had surprised him. She had, however, told him that she'd intended to dress up regardless. That insistence was why he stood in the Great Hall awaiting her arrival.

While he truly believed that the entire tradition of "dressing up" as something one was not was very silly indeed, he somehow forgot all about that when his eyes raked passed the entrance, then snapped back to the absolutely stunning creature that had just entered. She looked like she might have just stepped from the page of a story book. While he did kind of miss her unruly mane, he found himself captivated by the silky sway of her opaline tresses as she turned her head slowly to take in the gathering.

A smile popped onto her lips as she nodded a greeting to one of her students, and then her eyes met his. Even across the expanse of most of the Great Hall, Severus felt like he could actually feel the warmth that lit her eyes as they settled on him.

Her pace remained casual, but she wasted no time in crossing the floor to help herself to some punch from the table next to him.

"You look good enough to eat, Professor Granger," Severus murmured low enough to avoid being overheard.

She slid a sidelong glance at him and returned in an equally quiet tone, "I may just take you up on that later, Professor Snape."

He swallowed, but kept the smile from his lips as he let his gaze wander around the room, no longer noticing anyone else enough to feel the need to scowl.

When she'd secured her punch, she moved to stand at his side with a perfectly innocent distance between them. Severus glanced at her briefly then, allowing his eyes to quickly rake over her again. "Are you absolutely certain that you wish to remain?" he murmured as his gaze turned forward once more. "I could appreciate that costume much more fully in private."

A grin tugged at her lips, "There will be time enough for that later," she chastened, though he was pleased with the heat he detected in her tone.

"Hermione. Severus," Minerva greeted as she joined them. The damnable twinkle in her eye would have impressed Dumbledore.

"Minerva," he and Hermione said almost as one, though the latter was said with pleasure. "The Hall is breathtaking, as usual," Hermione added.

The headmistress smiled warmly. "It is, though I do miss Hagrid's pumpkins. Somehow Pomona's just aren't the same."

Hermione cut her eyes toward the pumpkins at the front of the hall and nodded her agreement. "I miss him," she admitted, "but his last letter promised that he was greatly enjoying Beauxbatons. It's a wonder. I don't think he knows a word of French."

"He's learned a handful per his last letter to me," Minerva admitted, "Though I do hope that he pronounces them better than he spells them."

"Unlikely," Hermione chuckled and Minerva quickly joined her.

Severus had never been fond of the half-giant, but the imagine of Hagrid at Beauxbatons was enough to bring the smallest smirk to his lips, which Hermione noticed with a glance that seemed almost instinctive – like she could somehow sense his amusement. She shared her smile with him.

"So when are you two planning to end the cloak and dagger portion of your relationship?" Minerva asked bluntly, instantly dissolving any mirth Severus had been feeling.

"After this weekend," Hermione supplied readily, making Severus wonder if that kind of openness was a female predilection. "We'd like to inform our friends before the rumors begin to take wing," she continued.

Minerva chuckled, "I imagine that wing won't be fast enough for _those _rumors. They'll likely apparate their way across Britain."

Hermione laughed and Severus found that he didn't mind the old witch's company all that much as it allowed him to hear that laugh so often.

The music changed to something slow and that dreadful twinkle returned to Minerva's eye. "My, what a lovely tune, and the two of you without a dance partner," she declared dramatically. "Severus, I simply insist that you keep Hermione company for this one dance. Go on now," she said, practically shoving them onto the dance floor.

Severus cast a glare at the headmistress as he hesitantly complied.

Hermione quirked an amused eyebrow at him as she took his hand lightly and placed the other very properly on his shoulder while he rested one hand on her slim waist, being sure to keep it from sliding down to her hip.

Severus quickly found that dancing with Hermione was not nearly as unpleasant as he'd expected considering that they were surrounded by the entire school – even allowing the distance that they were forced to keep between their bodies.

"I had no idea that you were such a dancer, Severus," Hermione virtually glowed after he'd spun her.

Severus couldn't help but wonder if they'd manage to keep their secret with her grinning at him like that, but he couldn't bring himself to dampen her mood with a reminder.

In the end, the dance did not last nearly long enough before he was forced by its completion to remove his hands from her. Even that innocent touch had been much better than not touching her at all. He once again found himself vaguely amused by how very addicted he'd become to her in such a short time. Her very presence was more addictive than Felix Felicis. He could not seem to get enough, but every subsequent exposure only increased his need.

Surprisingly, that need did not make him uneasy. Even knowing that she had not told him that she loved him or otherwise suggested that she was anywhere near as committed as he was, he found that he could only rejoice in whatever time she gave him. Decades as a spy had taught him to concentrate on the moment and worry little for any distant future. While he knew that it may very well cause irreparable damage to his heart if he lost Hermione now, he was willing to take the risk. He was used to gambling with his very soul, but this was the first time he'd been blessed with such an enjoyable hand to play.

Disconcertingly, seeing her on the dance floor seemed a cue to every male in the room, and Hermione was soon stolen from his side to dance with a seventh year Griffindor, which was immediately followed by several more sixth and seventh year boys. Most of them were Griffindors – probably because they were brash enough to ask her – a Ravenclaw, two Hufflepuffs, and, surprisingly, two Slytherins.

Blessedly, the boys seemed too intimidated by her to try to take any liberties with their hands – with the exception of one Slytherin boy whose hand had been entirely too low. If Hermione hadn't immediately chastened him for it, Severus wasn't sure what he might have done. Regardless, he resolved to watch that boy and give him a few detentions at his first opportunity.

"My, my, you're popular tonight," he growled when she returned to his side after four consecutive dances. The flush in her cheeks was simply mouthwatering, as was the way that her breasts strained against the bodice of her dress with each labored inhalation.

She laughed merrily, "I had no idea that I had so many admirers." She glanced around thoughtfully. "Severus, have you noticed that not one student has come anywhere near you while I've been dancing?"

He glanced at her with a raised brow.

"You look ready to murder someone," she smirked, enjoying that entirely too much.

"It may have crossed my mind," he frowned. "You are entirely too well-liked for a professor."

That comment turned her smirk a touch rueful, "I did not get the impression that their attention was a result of my teaching skills."

"You're adept at repair spells, correct?"

She looked at him strangely. "Yes."

"Good, because I am going to tear that dress off you when we get back to my rooms, and I would hate to ruin it."

Hermione flushed a bit. "You know, I think I'm actually getting a bit sleepy. I think I'll just go and say goodnight to Minerva."

He fought a smirk at the devilish light in her eyes. "Don't be long," he said quietly, then swept toward the exit.

/\*/\*/\

**Severus - 3 November 2001-Saturday**

Severus apparated to the gate outside Malfoy Manor right on time Saturday morning. The gate swung open at his approach and he found himself studying the manor while he paced toward the front door. Over the years of the war, he'd come to dread that house and its occupants – with one notable exception. Now Voldemort was dead and the undesirable occupants gone. He wondered how long it would be before the feeling of foreboding upon his approach would fade.

Severus nodded politely to the house elf who greeted him, but he didn't have long to wait as Draco appeared almost immediately. It still shocked him, Severus realized, how very like his father Draco looked. The boy had most certainly grown into a man in the years since the war, and it pleased Severus to see him smiling. He'd rarely managed anything more than a sneer during Voldemort's second reign.

They embraced briefly, then Draco led the way to the drawing room, where Severus tried very hard to not remember Hermione's nightmare of this place.

Once they were seated with their tea in hand, Severus found that he did not know how to begin. While Draco truly had overcome much of his prejudice toward muggle-borns, Severus was fairly certain that he'd never quit hating Hermione in particular. When he was in school, Draco had done a poor job of concealing his anger at Hermione's continuously outpacing him in every class – at least when Severus was alone with him. That academic animosity had been greatly exacerbated by the combination of his prejudice against muggle-borns and Hermione's best friend. Severus did not imagine that this conversation would go gracefully – or quietly.

He sipped his tea while he tried to figure out the best place to begin.

He abruptly found himself picturing his beautiful witch. The way that she smirked at him with that knowing gleam in her eye when he teased her. The unbelievable light in her eyes when she looked at him, as though she somehow found him as much a treasure as he found her. Her kisses, and the outstanding way that they could go from soft and tender to heated and demanding at the slightest provocation from him. The lustrous light that her eyes held when he pleasured her.

"Severus, are you all right?" Draco's voice sounded distant. Unimportant despite the concern it held.

Severus recalled, for perhaps the thousandth time, the thoughts that Hermione had shared with him on that first morning. Her affection for him and how he somehow appeared handsome in her eyes.

"Severus!" Again, Severus ignored the intruding voice. He was no longer certain whose voice it was, but he didn't care enough to wonder. It wasn't Hermione's.

He felt himself drifting into a pleasant dream of his precious witch and didn't try to fight it.

/\*/\*/\

**Draco - 3 November 2001-Saturday**

"Severus!" Draco all but shouted as he leapt out of his chair to catch his godfather before the older man could fall all the way out of his chair. His skin was several shades paler than normal, and cold despite the fact that he seemed to have broken in a sweat. Cursing savagely, Draco hoisted the larger man over his shoulder with a grunt of effort and spun.

He appeared in the apparition area in St. Mungo's emergency ward, and immediately shouted for help. With the help of a healer that Draco vaguely recognized from his frequent trips to visit his godfather, Severus was transferred onto a conjured litter.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" he shouted in response to the healer's question. "We were having tea and he just…" he trailed off, eyes widening. He immediately apparated back to his house, retrieved Severus' tea cup, and apparated back. "I think he may have been poisoned," he admitted, proffering the cup as proof.

An aging mediwitch scurried over to them, very carefully accepting the cup without spilling a drop of the tea. She didn't hesitate at all in casting a highly complicated diagnostic, studying the golden scrawl that scratched itself into the air over the cup. She shook her head slowly. "No poison in this," she squinted at him. "Did he have crackers? Anything else?"

Draco shook his head quickly, then paused and carefully replayed it in his head before shaking his head once more. "No! Nothing! What's wrong with him!?"

She shook her head again, handing the cup back to Draco before casting a different diagnostic on Severus, muttering under her breath in an almost hypnotic cadence while line after line of the golden scrawl filled the air. Her eyes widened suddenly and she quickly cast a healer's form of stasis upon Severus. She seemed to calm slightly then, looking at Draco again. "You've no idea what happened?" she checked again.

"I've said that I DON'T! STOP INTERROGATING ME AND FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY GODFATHER!" he shouted desperately, absolutely beyond caring about the scene he was making.

The mediwitch curled a disapproving brow at him, but said nothing more as she cast her patronus and sent it off with a message that she didn't vocalize. Draco watched it leave the hospital and prayed that whoever she was sending for would come quickly.

"Let's get him into a room," the mediwitch said far too calmly as she flicked her wand to levitate the litter ahead of her.

Draco followed, trying to swallow down his terror as he stared at the sweaty, too-pale face of the only man in the world who'd ever treated him like a son. Severus was all that he had left. He could not lose him.

"He'd only just arrived at my house," Draco said, ignoring the desperation he could hear in his own voice. "Perhaps he'd been poisoned before arriving."

"Perhaps," the mediwitch nodded, but there was significant doubt in her voice.

"What is KILLING HIM!" Draco shouted.

"I don't know," the mediwitch replied with a warning in her eyes. "I've never seen anything like this, but it reeks of dark magic."

With that, Draco realized that the look in her eyes was not a warning about his yelling, but an accusation. He growled in frustration – would he never outlive that stupid mark that was barely a faded scar on his arm. He'd never even been very talented with the dark magic Lucius had tried to teach him. "I'm an Auror!" he snapped at the woman. "Do you think that I'd be there if I was a dark wizard?!"

As she at last turned away from him to focus on Severus, she muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Stranger things have happened."

Draco ignored the remark and wrung his hand anxiously as he waited for her to say something – anything – that might suggest that this godfather was going to live. Three years of watching Severus in his unending coma had nearly been Draco's undoing. He didn't know if he could survive if Severus died.

"What happened?" an authoritative voice demanded from the doorway.

Draco spun, praying that this woman would be able to help more. His jaw dropped when he saw a wild mane of curly brown hair. "Granger!?" he sputtered.

She cast him the barest glance as she strode purposefully across the room to the bed to which Severus had just been moved.

The mediwitch shook her head in answer.

Granger cast her own diagnostics as easily as the mediwitch had though hers were slightly different and the letters appeared scarlet. Her stern countenance didn't change, but Draco watched her pale several shades as she studied the results. She turned quickly to him, her lips thinly set. "What happened, Draco?" she demanded in a smooth tone that nonetheless promised violence.

Draco barely even paid attention to his surprise at hearing his first name come from her. "I don't know!" he said, frustrated, but no longer yelling. "We were having tea and he just collapsed!"

Her eyes fell to the cup that he'd set down and, if possible, she seemed to pale even further. "That cup?" she demanded.

Draco nodded uncertainly.

"_Revelare manifestes fabricandis_!" she hissed, flicking her wand at the cup.

Almost instantly, Draco saw a sickly dark green begin to ooze out of the cup like steam rising from a gently simmering caldron. Draco recognized that effect, if not the exact spell, from Auror training. It was an aura of dark magic projected by an item enchanted with said magic.

For a moment, the room was absolutely silent as everyone stared at the cup.

"That is Bledrun's Last Drink, Draco," Granger said, breaking the silence. Her voice was suddenly very calm.

Draco choked as he realized what she was saying. The stasis spell might keep Severus alive for a little while, but there was no cure. His godfather was going to die.

"Draco," Granger said again, still in that damnably calm voice.

He finally tore his eyes away from his godfather to look at her. Strangely, he was relieved to see that she didn't look nearly as calm as she sounded. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were too wide.

"That is a dark artifact. You need to take it to the Ministry immediately."

Draco finally snapped out of his stupor. "What? No! You have to use it to figure out how to save him!" he demanded out of pure stubbornness.

She swallowed hard, but her voice was still calm when she spoke. "I can't. That was my strongest detection spell and it only revealed a basic aura. Maybe someone at the Ministry can discover more-"

"He'll be dead by then!" Draco snapped. "Damn it, Granger, you can't just let him die!"

"Oh, I have no intention of letting him die," she vowed, a snarl suddenly laced into her tone.

Draco blinked in surprise at her vehemence. He knew that she was the only reason that Severus had ever woken from his coma, but he couldn't fathom why she seemed to care. Still, he was grateful for the fire he saw in her eyes now. "Is there anything else I can do?" he asked desperately as he carefully picked up the cup.

"Yes," she snapped. "Figure out how that abomination got into your house!"

"YOU THINK I DID THIS TO HIM!?" he screamed at her, abruptly more furious than he had ever been.

"No!" she barked in return, her anger somehow sating his. "I think that whoever did this was in your house, and I think that person is our only chance at saving Severus. Find him," she ordered with more command in her voice in those two words than Draco had ever heard from anyone at the Ministry, including Robards.

Draco nodded obediently without even thinking about it, and hurried back toward the apparition area as quickly as he could without spilling the deadly tea.

**Oh, I am sorry about doing that to Severus, but Hermione is getting downright scary! Phwew! That chapter – eventually – came together with ridiculous ease. Good little plot bunnies…**

**Now that I have you all gnawing your nails in anticipation, I really will do my best to have another chapter ready to post tomorrow.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: **You'll be seeing more of Draco's POV in this chapter. I enjoy Hermione's perspective, but her mindset is so dark right now that it was really dragging me down.

I wanted to get this chapter posted yesterday, but my health has not been great lately, which does tend to slow things down. So, with some regret, dear readers, I'm going to shoot for one chapter every two days for the remainder of this story. If I can work an extra chapter in from time to time I definitely will.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 11 November 2001-Sunday**

She'd fallen back into old patterns very quickly, she noted ruefully as she paced the length of the room. She wasn't used to all the pacing anymore and her feet and legs ached, but she ignored the discomfort. Her bloodshot eyes burned from far too little sleep, but she ignored that too. It didn't matter. None of it did. The only thing that mattered was the man lying in the bed next to which she paced.

A week had passed since Severus had drunk from that infernal goblet. A week. And all she'd managed to accomplish in that time was to accrue a dizzying list of things that had no effect on his condition.

Her eyes raked over him again, as they did briefly on every pass of the room. He was pale as death, his skin cool and clammy to the touch. His chest just barely moved with each shallow breath. The stasis spell was keeping the goblet's effects from killing him, but the spell itself was slowly destroying him. A week had passed. In two more, the stasis would fail and to cast it again before his body recovered would kill him. Without the stasis, the curse of the goblet would kill him in less than an hour.

Severus had only two weeks left, and she was out of ideas to try to help him. It might be possible to concoct a potion would could reverse the effects of the curse, but not in two weeks. Even Severus would have had no hope of accomplishing a goal like that. She'd tried every counter curse that she knew on him, though she'd had little hope of any of them actually working. Then she'd cast every counter curse that she could dig up in every book she could find. Finally, she'd begun altering spells to more closely suit her purposes. Nothing had helped.

Now she was left to pace the room, furiously racking her brain for a solution that she knew would not come. She had to have more information to have any hope of even knowing where to start. The Ministry had been overjoyed to get their greedy hands on such an artifact, of course, and Kingsley had assured her that he had made the study of it a top priority. But with so many resources still tied up trying to track down Rookwood – if Severus died, she would hunt him down and kill him just for distracting the Ministry! – it seemed there was no way that they would find anything in time to help.

The silver lining – she supposed it could be called– was that Draco Malfoy was still the Auror working the case. She was absolutely certain that he was the only one in the world who wanted to save Severus as much as she did. She had not told him about Severus and her. There didn't seem any point under the current circumstances – and some small part of her still held out hope that Severus could tell him when he awoke. Draco didn't understand her motivation, but neither had he questioned it. She'd already saved Severus once, which she assumed was why Draco trusted her to care for his godfather.

She didn't know if she believed in any kind of God, but she didn't bother hoping or trying to pray for any divine intervention. No, if there was a God, Hermione was pretty sure that he didn't like Severus Snape very much at all. The man had drawn the most rotten hand in life that she had ever seen. He'd made bad decisions when he was young, yes, but only because he had lost the love of his life to the man who'd spent seven years tormenting him. Harry too had drawn a bad hand in life, but at least it seemed that he'd been given some peace now that the war was over. Why could Severus not have that?

She shook herself angrily when she realized how her mind was wandering. It was the lack of sleep coupled with her desperation. Her exhausted mind was trying to shelter her from the stress, but she couldn't allow it. She had to figure something out. She had to do it soon.

She wished that she could talk to Severus about it. He was a brilliant man. If anyone could help her to figure out what to do, it would be him. She'd hadn't slept much in the last week, nodding off for an hour or two when her body forced her, but every time she had hoped with a nearly fanatical ferocity that she would find herself in a shared dream. Instead, she lived through the same nightmare every time she closed her eyes. She watched the last of the life leave his body, and it felt like her heart had literally been ripped from her chest before she woke screaming and sobbing.

It made her yearn for the comparatively mundane nightmares of writhing beneath the Cruciatus. Pain of body was nothing next to what she felt watching him die. She'd known that she was crazy about the man since well before either had admitted their feelings, but she'd not come to understand just how vital he was to her until she'd been forced to face the reality that she may have lost him.

Her eyes trailed over him again, but this time she froze as her weary mind finally ground out a useful idea. Her breathing hitched and she wanted to scream for not thinking of it sooner. She was going to have to take a Dreamless Sleep potion, she realized. Sleeping while the remaining hours of his life dwindled felt to her like a betrayal, but if she allowed the strength of her mind to falter because of her stubborn refusal, that was a much greater betrayal.

Yes, she decided. Dreamless sleep. She could get at least one good night's sleep. But not yet.

She flicked her wand to draw a chair across the room, then transfigured it to raise the height a bit. She settled herself in the chair at his bedside. With a deep breath to try to calm her anxious mind, she grasped one of his hands in hers and pressed the other firmly across his cool forehead.

"_Legilimens Penetros_," she whispered fervently. She slammed into his shield, noting uneasily that his body reacted in no way this time, and slid along it until she found that crack. It did not seem to have changed in any way since the last time she'd entered it – which must have been at least a lifetime ago.

She went through the arduous process of passing layer after layer of his shield until she discovered him at last, withdrawn into the same dark corner of his mind in which he'd passed the three years after the war. She slipped inside and felt the strangely disorienting sensation of her senses righting themselves within his dream.

She'd expected the shrieking shack or any of the other numerous awful experiences that he'd no doubt survived in his life. She had not expected her to find himself in his bedroom.

He was lying on his side on the bed, facing away from her. She could tell at a glance that he was extremely relaxed, his muscles at ease as he leaned on one elbow, wearing just the cotton pants that he used for pajamas.

"I could die happy right now," he murmured and Hermione's heart very nearly stopped at those words. He was _not _allowed to die, happy or any other way.

"You wouldn't dare," came a teasing response from the other side of him. It was Hermione's voice, though she'd not said it.

She paced around him slowly and blinked when he saw herself lying on her stomach right next to Severus. She too was naked above the waist, her hair swept over to cascade across the bed. He'd just finished giving her a massage, she recalled. Severus was reliving a memory from the blissful week they'd shared before he'd gone to Malfoy Manor.

Several confusingly contradicting emotions struck her as she watched the scene unfolding just as she remembered it. There was warmth in seeing the memory, and sadness at knowing that it had passed. Absurdly, she also felt a pang of jealousy at seeing him in bed with… herself, when it wasn't really her. She felt happy to know that Severus was lost in such a happy memory – in knowing that if he did die, maybe he really would be happy at the end.

And then there was absolutely bone-crushing terror at the fact that he really might die. That she'd never gain another memory such as this. That she'd lose him – that perhaps she already had.

She did her best to collect herself, and spoke clearly. "Severus."

He looked up at her, blinked slowly in evident confusion, and then the Hermione lying on the bed was gone. "Are you leaving?" he asked curiously.

Her stomach turned in the face of his innocent question. It took her a moment to summon her courage before she could speak again. "Severus, this is a dream," she said finally, sternly.

He frowned and she could see that he was thinking as he sat up slowly and turned to face her directly. "What's happened?" he asked quietly. She could read the troubled look in his eyes well enough to understand that he was quickly catching up.

As she tried to summon words to explain the situation, she found herself struggling to prevent herself from completely breaking down, devolving into a mess of pointless weeping at his feet. The mere fact that she was actually speaking to him again was nearly her undoing. She hadn't been certain that she would ever have the chance.

That wasn't productive, she scolded herself sternly. She needed to focus. To stay on point. Or this would all be for nothing. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to remain. She couldn't waste any time.

"You've been cursed," she said, hating how feeble her voice came out.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her for a moment. "I'm dying." It wasn't a question.

"You're under stasis. You've got about two weeks left," she explained, her voice as blank as she knew that her face was. She felt certain that if she allowed any emotion to escape, all of it would follow.

He nodded silently, but she could see the tension in his shoulders now, the hard set of his jaw.

"Do you remember what happened?" she prompted after giving him a moment to absorb that information.

He thought about it for what seemed an eternity, then shook his head, "The last I remember, I was having tea with Draco. I was trying to figure out how to broach the subject of us."

Her stomach clenched painfully. "The cup that you drank from… It was Bledrun's Last Drink, Severus."

His brow rose in surprise. "How did that find its way into Draco's tea service?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "Draco doesn't either. When you collapsed, he brought you directly to St. Mungo's and the mediwitch who examined you put you under stasis before she sent for me."

"She sent for you directly?" he asked curiously.

"You were my patient for three years, Severus," she reminded him. "Even before I received my probational healers' license, Kingsley had me in charge of you."

He nodded pensively.

"I assume you've exhausted all options for reviving me?"

"Everything that I can think of," she admitted, "but I'm still looking, and Draco is trying to find leads on the goblet. Perhaps if we can find the wizard who was using it, we may be able to find more about the goblet itself."

He frowned at her as though he knew exactly how flimsy were the straws at which she was grasping. "Hermione," he said quietly. "I know that you'll fight to the last – that's just your way – but I think we should discuss the possibility of my death."

She could hear her teeth grating together as everything that she was rebelled at the idea. "I didn't come here to say goodbye, Severus!" she snapped acidly. "I came to see if you had any ideas!"

"Hermione," he repeated, his tone making her name into a gentle plea.

Her resolve wavered at the pain and compassion in his eyes and a tremble coursed through her traitorous body. "Severus, I can't," she insisted.

"You gave my life back to me, Hermione. You gave me six months of life that I wasn't supposed to have."

Her knees trembled, threatening to give way.

"And then you gave yourself to me, my love. You taught me of a kind of happiness for which I never even knew I should dream."

"Stop," she begged weakly. She couldn't hear this. It was too much like goodbye. Too much like it was already over.

"I know that I can't tell you not to mourn for me, but please don't forget that I accepted my death with Voldemort's fall. Everything that I've had since has been a blessing, if only a passing one."

"Why are you saying this?" she croaked, finally surrendering to her knees and letting herself sink down to the floor.

"Because it may be my only chance," he whispered softly. "Because when your grief fades enough for you to think clearly, I want you to know these words. To remember them."

Anger surged into her, consuming her like a flame as she looked at him again. "No!" she spat furiously. "You don't get to make it okay." Grief and anger were warring somewhere in her chest, but she allowed anger to have the edge. She refused to cry as she had refused the impulse since the moment she'd learned that he was in trouble. Grief was for funerals. Anger worked just fine for getting things done. "Not this, Severus. I _am_ going to save you, and then we're going to have a long talk about last words."

/\*/\*/\

**Draco - 11 November 2001-Sunday**

Draco had hit wall after wall on his case all week. Watching every promising lead evaporate the moment that he began to gain hope was slowly driving him mad. After almost thirty-six hours straight, Robards had _insisted _that he go home and get some rest. _Insisted!_ As if he wasn't capable of comprehending the fact that he was human and therefore did require rest at some point. As if he couldn't decide that point on his own like every other adult.

He wanted to see Severus, but he knew that it was at least partially out of sheer defiance that he apparated directly from the Ministry to St. Mungo's rather than his manor. He was in a foul mood when he let himself into Severus' room, but he stopped cold when he saw Hermione. She was sitting at his godfather's bedside, one hand on the man's head and the other clenching his hand. Though she was only slightly hunched, her eyes were closed and she seemed utterly unaware of his entrance.

"Granger?" he said tentatively as he closed the door behind him and took a couple slow steps closer.

There was no response of any kind. Not even a twitch.

"Granger!" he said, louder, but with the same effect. "What in the…?" he muttered as he stepped closer.

He was reaching for her shoulder when her eyes suddenly snapped open and she sucked in a gasp like she'd been holding her breath.

Startled, he leapt back, then scolded himself for being so jumpy.

Almost immediately, she slumped down over the edge of the bed as though she barely had the energy to hold up her own head.

"Granger?" he said warily when he realized that something might be wrong.

She turned her head enough to look at him, and he saw her make an effort to straighten. After a moment, she turned a feral glare on the unconscious man. "Insufferable, intolerable, IMPOSSIBLE MAN!" she shouted at him with such fury in her voice that Draco's hand instinctively went to his wand, preparing to defend his godfather.

She didn't draw her wand though, instead surging up out of her chair and pacing across the small room, as far as she could get from Severus.

"What happened?" Draco demanded, anger at his own nerves and her unstable mood making his tone sharp. "What were you doing to him?"

"Talking to him, of course!" she snapped back, spinning on him with fire still burning in her eyes. "What else could possibly make me this angry?!"

A funny flutter wiggled its way through Draco's chest. "He woke up?" he asked breathlessly.

Her glare softened slightly, "No, Draco. I was in his mind."

Draco's eyes widened. "You're a Legilimens?" he asked in disbelief.

"Not like it does any good," she growled, turning her glare on Severus again. "Stubborn men!"

"What… What did he say?" he asked, feeling obscenely jealous that he didn't know Legilimency himself.

"Nothing!" she snapped. "Nothing at all that can help! The ever-so-practical, terminally loyal, self-sacrificing, self-_deprecating_, bleeding _TOSSER_ had nothing to offer me except advice on dealing with his DEATH!" she ground out, looking at least half mad. "Oh, Severus, I swear you will live through this, because I am going to kill you _personally_!"

Draco's eyes widened. He'd seen Hermione Granger royally brassed off before – at him no less – but he'd never seen her quite to this extent. She really looked like she was about ready to start flinging curses, and if she'd even twitched toward her wand, Draco would have drawn his.

"Blimey, Granger. What did he say to you?" Draco asked warily.

As he watched her, the fire in her eyes seemed to go out, her shoulders sagged, and she half-sat, half-fell right where she was, leaving her on the floor against the wall. "He said goodbye," she breathed, a pair of tears leaking out of her eyes when she closed them.

Draco stared at her warily for a moment before he realized that her breathing had deepened into sleep. He rubbed at the tense muscles in the back of his neck irritably. "As if I didn't have enough on my mind," he grumbled, conjuring a cot in the corner next to Granger. "I have to deal with frizzy haired girls going totally barmy-" he finished with a quiet grunt as he hefted her up onto the cot. She didn't so much as blink.

He watched her for a minute, worried that there might be something really wrong with her, but she wasn't cold or hot or sweating and her breathing seemed normal. The circles under her eyes were starting to get rather hideous though. He glanced at his godfather again as he wondered how long it had been since Granger had slept.

He almost left her like that, but remembering that she was in this state because she was trying so hard to help Severus, he conjured a blanket and draped it over her.

/\*/\*/\

Draco woke from a light doze at his godfather's bedside to a blood curdling scream. He leapt out of the chair and drew a wand, searching the room for an intruder. After a moment, he realized there was none to be found. Apparently, that was just how Granger woke up.

She screamed twice, then curled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, burying her face. Draco watched the harsh jerking of her shoulders and realized that she was crying. Really hard.

He shifted his weight uneasily for a moment before speaking. "Granger?"

Her shoulders stilled almost instantly and she looked up at him with very wet eyes. When she saw him, she groaned and sniffled a couple times while she wiped her eyes. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked, her voice falsely calm. He could tell by the way her hands trembled that she was far from calm.

As much as he'd loved teasing her in school, he felt absolutely no desire to do so at the moment. Instead, he checked his pocket watch. "Almost an hour," he informed her, blinking sleep from his own eyes.

With what looked to be a great deal of effort, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and squared her shoulders.

"Just go back to sleep, Granger," he chastened irritably. "You were so tired you passed out."

She shook her head briskly, "It was the spell – a form of Legilimens. It's quite tiring."

Draco sneered doubtfully. "Granger, you look terrible. You need to sleep-"

"I know!" she snapped, then sighed and moderated her tone. "I know that. But I can't… I couldn't go back to sleep right now."

He reluctantly nodded his understanding. Whatever nightmare had woken her, it sounded like a bad one. Draco had them often enough to empathize – even if he'd never admit it to her.

"Have you made any progress?" he asked instead, while he turned back to Severus and carefully tucking his arm back up onto the bed where he'd knocked it off when Granger had screamed.

Her shoulders slumped a bit and her eyes looked increasingly haunted the moment he'd asked the question. None of that entered her tone though as she got up and paced over to Severus. "Not really. Ruled some more things out, but I'm not really any closer to waking him."

Draco grimaced, though he'd mostly expected it given the state she'd been in when he arrived.

She leaned over the bed as though she needed the support, her eyes on Severus inanimate face. "We need to find another angle. We need to know more about the goblet."

"I don't think the Ministry is going to get there before he's dead," Draco admitted quietly.

She nodded as though she'd drawn the same conclusion. "If we can figure out how or why the cup showed up again… If we knew who was using it, maybe we'd find something to work with," she said grimly.

"I'm doing everything I can," Draco growled.

She took a deep breath and it looked like she was steeling herself to continue. "We need to work together, Draco," she said quietly. "I've done as much as I can here for now." Her eyes still had not left Severus' face, and her hand clenched down almost convulsively on the limp hand at the side of the bed. "I'm going to ask Kingsley to let me work with you on the case. Like a consultant."

Draco watched her uncertainly, his eyes going from her hand to her face, and he considered the way that she was asking for his _help _without even grimacing. It seemed completely daft but… He almost asked her why she was so determined to help Severus, but then thought better of it. For now, all that mattered was that she looked ready to kill herself if that's what it took to save him. He didn't want to do anything to mess that up.

"Okay," he agreed, "but first, we both need some sleep or we're not going to get anything done. Why don't you meet me at the Ministry at," he checked his watch again. It was just after three in the morning. "At eleven," he suggested. "Robards will have my hide if I come in any earlier."

She gnawed on her lower lip for a moment, but she nodded. "Okay. Meet me at Kingsley's office."

He nodded, cast one last look at Severus, then left the room examining the improbable circumstance that could get him and Hermione working together.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 11 November 2001-Sunday**

Hermione woke to a kind of euphoria after her first real rest in a week. Her body felt pleasantly lethargic, and nothing haunted her mind for those first few moments that she stretched her sleepy limbs. She had half a mind to turn over and go back to sleep, but she remembered that she'd had somewhere to be this morning. She recalled measuring the potion very carefully to ensure that she would wake in seven hours.

Another moment trickled by and then it all came crashing down.

Severus.

With a grimace, she practically leapt out of bed and hurried to dress and make herself presentable. She had to meet Draco in less than half an hour. A few quick charms allowed her to skip a shower and brushing her hair. Once she'd detangled and smoothed it a bit, she wound it up into a quick, if messy bun high on the back of her head. She threw herself into a random set of her teaching robes, stuffed her feet into a comfortable pair of shoes, then hurried to make some toast.

Finally, her purse slung around her neck and a slice of toast caught in her teeth, Hermione hurried out of her rooms still shrugging into her cloak. It was an effort to avoid running on her way out of Hogwarts, though she wasn't actually late.

/\*/\*/\

**Draco - 11 November 2001-Sunday**

Draco paced the hallway in front of the Minister's office, making an effort to avoid looking at his watch again. He knew that Hermione wasn't late yet, and he didn't expect her to be. It was his own fault for showing up fifteen minutes early but his sleep had been fitful. He couldn't use Dreamless Sleep anymore. He'd become addicted to it the last time Severus had been in a coma and had spent his own stint at St. Mungo's recovering. He was just glad that it hadn't set back his Auror training. It was not a mistake he was going to make again.

The lift chugged to a stop down the hall and Draco rushed over to see if she would be there though he'd already been disappointed three times, earning glares from various Ministry officials for his loitering in front of the open door.

This time, though, he was not disappointed. Hermione stepped out to meet him, looking many times better than she had in the early morning hours when he'd left her at St. Mungo's. She held herself with poise but her eyes burned with fiery determination. "Ready?" she asked simply as he fell into step beside her.

He nodded in response, though he was a little concerned about her plan. He had no doubt at all that she didn't plan on taking "no" for an answer. If it came down to a battle of wills between her and the Minister, he would rather not be there. Still, this was for Severus. If it would help, he'd volunteer to join his parents in Azkaban.

"He's expecting you, Professor Granger," Kingsley's assistant smiled warmly as soon as they rounded the corner.

Hermione nodded to her with a small twist of her lips that was probably meant to pass for a smile. She knocked briskly on the Minister's door just once, then let herself in.

Draco swallowed hard, hesitated a moment, and then followed.

The Minister glanced up at Hermione and started to smile, then his eyes fell on Draco and his brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Have a seat," he offered with a sort of wariness.

Hermione settled herself in front of the Minister's desk and Draco took the only other seat.

"I received your owl at a rather obscene hour," he frowned at Hermione.

Draco swallowed hard, worried that this was off to a bad start.

Hermione's face didn't change at all. "Sorry about that. It was kind of a last minute decision, and my hours are running a bit off lately."

Sympathy entered the Minister's face. "Yes, I was sorry to hear about Severus."

Again, his words had no visible impact on her except a slight tightening of her hand on the arm of her chair. "Thanks, Kingsley," she nodded despite her blank face.

Draco blinked in total surprise as he looked between the two of them. He knew that Hermione had been with the Order of the Phoenix and therefore probably got some special attention from the new Minister, but he'd never thought they'd be on a first name basis.

"I've done everything that I can for him," Hermione continued. "So far, there has been no effect. I have to have more information. At this point, I'm guessing that might come from Bledrun's Last Drink, but I don't imagine it would be in time to save Severus. As an alternative, I would like to help Draco in his investigation. If we can apprehend the witch or wizard that employed the goblet, perhaps we can find information there."

Kingsley listened to it all attentively, then leaned back in his chair and studied her thoughtfully. Draco may as well have not even been in the office. "How long does he have?" he asked finally.

"Two weeks," she replied stonily.

"You want to help with the investigation," Kingsley said pensively. "And if you find a lead, I imagine that you expect to be included in the following of it?"

Her jaw clenched and her lips thinned for a moment, but she answered calmly. "Yes." When the Minister didn't immediately respond, she added, "Kingsley, you know I can handle myself."

"I most certainly do," he nodded, "and I meant it when I told you that you'd be an asset to the Aurors."

Draco managed to snap his mouth shut before either of them seemed to notice his fallen jaw. The Minister had told her _what_?

"My concern is what would happen if you actually found this man."

Hermione's eyes narrowed a bit at that.

"I really don't want a repeat of what happened in France," he added with cryptic significance that did not seem to be lost on Hermione.

"I can promise you that he will survive," she said, though she practically growled it. "Provided that Severus does," she added.

Draco found himself forgetting the Minister's presence as he stared at Hermione, the muggleborn bookworm. In all their years in school together, he never could have guessed that she could look so incredibly… terrifying as she did right then. It wasn't just her words. It was the promise in her eyes as she said it.

The Minister sighed as though he was not at all surprised by her response. He summoned a clean piece of parchment and began writing. After scribbling a few lines, he signed his name at the bottom, dried the ink with a tap of his wand, and rolled it up.

"I'm granting you temporary instatement as a consultant to the Auror office in relation to Mr. Malfoy's case," he informed her. "Give this to Gawain."

She accepted the parchment. "Thank you, Kingsley."

"Just remember that you're a consultant, Hermione," he asked warily. "You are to observe and offer advice. You are not to participate in arrests or interrogation."

"I'll do my best to remember that."

"No doubt," the Minister frowned doubtfully.

* * *

**I'd like to thank all my loyal readers and welcome the new ones. As always, I look forward to your thoughts and opinions on each and every chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: **Sorry that this one's on the short side, but this chapter put up a bit of a fight. It was either a short chapter today or nothing until tomorrow. I didn't want to let you guys down too much.

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

* * *

**Hermione – 13-November 2001-Tuesday**

"How are you doing, Hermione?" Harry asked sympathetically when he cornered her at Draco's desk.

Harry was one of the only people who'd learned about Severus and her, and she was very grateful that he could understand what she was really going through. Still, she was in no mood for sympathy. She didn't know if she'd ever be in that particular mood.

"I'll be fine if Draco ever gets here," she snapped, slanting an impatient glare at the standup clock against the far wall.

"I'm two minutes early, Granger," she heard the man himself drawl behind her.

Harry cast a faint grimace at Draco and excused himself quietly. After Hermione had snapped at him for getting into an argument with Draco when she wanted to be working, he'd avoided his former nemesis when she was around.

"Sorry," she said tersely to Draco. "I was going over the articles again last night and I tried running some more equations."

He was looking at her with a frown that she'd learned well over the last couple days. It was the look he got when she said something that proved she hadn't been sleeping again. It wasn't quite concern but it wasn't indifference either. Thankfully, he never commented on it.

"I think I may have found something," she concluded, gesturing to a map of London that she'd spread over his desk. "The geographical markers combined with the arithmantic indicators create something of a web if you run them through the Helisvirian Method."

She was relieved to see that Draco was nodding along rather than looking lost or doubtful. "Most of the web was focused on London," she continued, waving her wand to summon the lines of the web to glow over the map below.

Draco immediately leaned forward, scanning the map.

"It seems to be more concentrated over these few blocks of Muggle London here," she pointed and he nodded. "I came in early this morning and pulled the Ministry files and discovered only three magical residences in the area. I made some inquiries and found that one of these three has been deserted since right around the time the goblet turned up."

"How long have you been here?" he asked neutrally without looking away from the map.

"I was only gone for a couple hours," she said quietly.

He nodded without any apparent judgment. She appreciated that about him, even though she was pretty sure that his desire to see his godfather survive had something to do with his consistently remaining quiet on the subject of just how hard she was working.

"So I thought we could check out that house today," she concluded.

Draco grabbed his cloak from here he'd just hung it and started toward the exit.

Hermione hurried to retrieve her own cloak and catch up.

/\*/\*/\

The neighborhood was more rundown than Hermione had been expecting, but the house that matched the address she was looking for was in even worse shape than those around it. The yard looked more of a sandlot, with a few scraggly skeletons that had probably been bushes at one time.

"First rate place," Draco sneered distastefully at her side.

Hermione's lip twitched in something that probably would have become a smile if Severus' predicament hadn't rendered her incapable of such a thing. "Cast a distraction charm, Draco," she advised. "I'm going to check for wards."

"Please, Granger. This isn't the sort of neighborhood where people spy on their neighbors," Draco said, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Just cast the damn charm, Draco," she snapped, walking past him toward the house as she drew her wand.

Draco grumbled behind her, but she heard him cast the charm.

Once she was convinced that muggles wouldn't be watching her waving her wand around, she cast a few spells to identify wards. Interestingly, the only ward she found was a different version of the one Draco had just cast. Someone obviously cared about maintaining privacy against prying eyes, but evidently not trespassers.

Still wary, Hermione cast a few more intricate detection spells but discovered nothing more. Her hopes sinking that this visit would turn up anything helpful, she approached the door. When she tried the handle, she discovered that it wasn't even locked, by muggle or magical means.

"This is a little too inviting," she noted uneasily.

"Or whoever was here is long gone and didn't care about maintaining their security," Draco supplied as he joined her. He pushed past her into the house, his only concession to caution being that his wand was still in his hand.

Hermione braced herself for something to happen – some unnoticed ward to activate.

Draco stopped just inside and looked up. "Well, that's interesting," he noted.

Annoyed, Hermione shrugged past him and understood immediately what he meant. Despite the extremely rundown exterior of the small house, the interior had obviously been excessively modified with some rather impressive enlargement charms among other things. They were standing in a grand entrance hall suited to nothing less than a fantastic manor. Elegant chandeliers hung high overhead with matching sconces decorating the walls. All the enchanted candles flared to life upon their entrance, bathing the entire thing in bright and cheerful light. A grand staircase curved up one wall and a parlor was visible adjacent to the entry hall.

In all, it looked perfectly lovely, apart from the fact that it clearly hadn't been tended in some time. Dust and cobwebs had begun to collect on everything from at least a couple months of inattention.

"Do you remember who was living here?" Draco asked, his voice pitched low.

Hermione cast a quick _Homenum Revelio _to ensure that they were alone before she answered him. "A small family that immigrated from Germany a few years ago," she supplied.

"What do you think happened to them?" he posed.

"I very much fear that they died, Draco."

"Why do you think that?" he asked warily.

"You'll see," she said quietly, taking the lead up the stairs, her wand out and ready. She passed up the first two doors in the second floor hall and stopped before the third, which was slightly ajar. A glance back at Draco proved that he now understood why she thought they were dead. He had his nose buried in the crook of his elbow.

She cast another quick spell to check for wards around the door. Discovering none, she pushed it open and grimaced as the intensity of the odor increased.

"Bloody hell," Draco cursed as he followed her into what had once been a study.

Another _Homenum Revelio_ proved that they were the only ones present. The only _live _ones, at least. There were, however, three bodies on the floor. This room didn't smell nearly as badly as that tomb had, and Hermione decided to forego the bubble head charm since it slightly impaired her vision. Judging by the appearance of the bodies, Hermione guessed that they'd likely been there a couple months, giving the stench of decay time to recede.

The scorch marks on the wall and significant destruction of the room as well as the wands lying intact near the two adult corpses suggested a magical battle. The room was a complete disarray, utterly destroyed by the battle. Except… Except for the glass-fronted china cabinet against the far wall, which looked entirely untouched as it proudly displayed a set of what looked to be ancient tea service in impeccable condition.

"That's awful!" Draco complained at her side, though he hadn't cast the bubble head either. He was probably too prideful to admit the need, though he wasn't disguising his disgust.

"Unfortunately, Draco," Hermione said quietly, "you get used to it."

She turned away from his wide-eyed disbelief to survey the rest of the room. The bookshelves that lined the walls were literally falling apart, spilling books across the floor, some of which were intact while others were shredded and scorched.

"Spend a lot of time around corpses, do you?" She could hear his sneer, but the arm across his face rather reduced the effect.

She said nothing for a moment, before admitting, "You've spent the last three years in training, Draco. I didn't."

At least that seemed to shut him up. She turned to look at him again. "Do you notice anything wrong with this room?" she posed to him. She wasn't sure why she didn't just tell him, but perhaps she'd spent too much time in front of a classroom lately.

His eyes fell to the bodies and he swallowed hard, his pale face turning a little green. "What isn't wrong in here?"

"Exactly," she agreed, nodding toward the cabinet.

He followed her nod and his eyes narrowed. Hermione followed him as he picked his way through the room without stepping on… anything.

"It's completely untouched," he noted thoughtfully. "Not even a scorch mark."

Hermione waved her wand in a complicated little twist and whispered, "_Revelare quid protegit te_."

The wards around the cabinet shimmered into view and Hermione's eyes widened. She'd never seen anything more intricate. Layer upon layer of wards had been worked right into the craftsmanship of the cabinet, inscribed in the etchings on the glass and along the grain of the wood. These were not the types of wards one could simply dismantle with a wave of one's wand.

"This isn't a cabinet. It's a vault," she muttered in wonder.

"That's an awful lot to protect an old set of china," Draco noted doubtfully.

"Unless there's an ancient artifact concealed in it," Hermione agreed.

"It does look like there's a cup missing."

Hermione turned back to the bodies and stooped to cast a quick diagnostic.

"What are you doing?" he asked warily.

"They've been dead just over two months," she confirmed. "A couple weeks before the cup reappeared."

Draco looked at the cabinet again while Hermione continued to examine the bodies. "Well, I'd say it's a good bet that we know where the cup was hiding out for so long. And they definitely knew what they had. That'll help narrow things down. We just need to figure out who could have found out about it being here."

"This was definitely dark magic," Hermione confirmed grimly. "Oh, bloody hell," she breathed in horror as she examined one of the bodies more closely. The scoring on that bone…

"What?" Draco asked.

"I know this spell," she said uneasily. "_Accendis Caro_. It burns the flesh from within."

"How do you know it?"

Hermione clenched her wand hand reflexively. "I nearly lost my hand to it a couple years ago," she said quietly. "If not for some very talented healers and a great deal of luck, I would have." She glanced up to see Draco staring at her as though he'd never seen her before.

"Mentis Mentarion," she said quietly. "That's the wizard that used it on me, and I think it might be a personal spell of his as I've had no luck finding any record of it since."

"Then we may have figured out who we're looking for," Draco reasoned, hope blossoming in his tone. "We should head back to the Ministry. You need to fill out a report and I need to put out a Locate on Mentis Mentarion."

She nodded, eager to be out of that terrible room.

They'd nearly reached the door when Hermione heard a faint blast from somewhere deeper into the house. She turned warily and so she was looking right at it when the trap detonated. With a bass boom, green flame exploded through the grand entry hall, racing toward her.

The world seemed to slow around her. Draco had just opened the front door. She was still two meters away. "_Repulsio_!" she screamed, stabbing her wand at Draco. He went flying out through the door and then the flames enveloped her.

Her entire body erupted in white hot agony, there was a jarring impact, and blessed darkness took her away.

/\*/\*/\

**Draco – 16 November 2001-Friday**

The healers had been kind enough to put Hermione's bed in the same room as Severus, which allowed Draco to sit vigil over both of them. He'd been working the case, of course, but Mentarion was a ghost. Without Hermione's knowledge of the man, he wasn't sure that he had any hope of finding him before Severus ran out of time. According to the mediwitch, Hermione could wake at any time, which was why Draco was going over the evidence of the hundredth time in that little hospital room.

He hadn't been sleeping enough, and his mind wandered again as he looked at Hermione's still form once more. He found himself thinking back to the events that had landed her here.

There'd been a noise that he couldn't identify as he'd opened the door. He'd only just begun to turn around when Hermione's spell hit him and sent him flying. He'd rushed back to the door and gone in as soon as the green flames had expired. That's when he'd found her, lying in a crumpled heap against the wall. The flames hadn't actually burned anything, including Hermione, thankfully, but she'd hit her head hard enough that her face was covered in blood. The healers had compared her condition to someone who'd experienced the Cruciatus and had looked at him like they didn't doubt he was the culprit despite the fact that he'd been the one to bring her in.

He simply could not believe what Hermione had done. She could have cast a shield to protect herself. Instead, she'd protected him. _Him. _The man who'd tortured and ridiculed her through school, who'd watched her under Bellatrix's wand and done nothing. She'd saved him even though it could have cost her life. He knew that Griffindors were supposed to be brave and self-sacrificing dolts, but he had never in his life found himself on the receiving end of that kind of act before. She'd risked her life to save him.

He was startled back to the present when Hermione began to stir. He was at her bedside before he'd realized that he intended to move. Her eyes opened slowly and focused on his face. She opened her mouth to speak but instead devolved into a fit of coughing while Draco quickly conjured her a glass of water. She gulped that down with great evident thirst, then tried again to speak.

"How long have I been here?"

"Three days."

Her eyes widened. "Three days?!" With that, she threw off the blankets and almost leapt out of the bed, though she had to take a moment to brace herself against the bed when she swayed.

"We should probably get a healer," he noted warily, though he was actually thrilled that she seemed so willing to immediately get back to work.

Hermione located her wand on the table next to her bed and cast a quick diagnostic on herself. She read it briefly, then nodded, "I'll be fine. Have you made any progress?"

"None worth mentioning," he grumbled. "There's not much recent information to be found about Mentis Mentarion. Not even about your encounter with him."

"Then we can't afford to waste any more time," she said darkly, her eyes drawn across the room to where Severus slumbered. After a moment, she turned away from him and went to the cupboard to find her robes, and she stepped into the loo to change.

She reemerged in a very short time, fully clothed with her bushy hair restrained in a thick, messy braid. If there was one good thing to be said about what happened to her, it was that she'd finally gotten some sleep. She actually looked considerably healthier now than she had before being hurt.

She crossed the room to Severus' bed and took his hand between hers with surprising gentleness. For a long moment, she simply stared at his overly pale face.

"Don't you dare die on me," she whispered severely.

"How long?" Draco asked quietly on their way out.

She looked at him uncertainly.

"You and Severus," he clarified. "How long."

Her frown deepened and she looked away from him. "About a week before this happened. He was going to tell you over tea."

"Well, he's a lucky guy," Draco said after a moment.

Hermione stopped walking so suddenly that he was a couple steps past her before he realized it. She was studying him warily. "You really think that?" she asked, her eyes daring him to try lying to her.

"Yeah, Hermione, I do," Draco sighed, exasperated.

Her brow rose when he used her given name.

"Well, I figured, since you did save my life, maybe I'd consent to a first name basis," he said dryly.

She nodded slowly, and finally started walking again. "Thank you," she said so quietly that he barely caught it. "Your opinion means a great deal to Severus."

Draco nodded stiffly but let the subject drop. Much more and he was going to start crying. Whether she saved his life or not, he was _not _prepared to let her see him cry.

/\*/\*/\

**Draco – 19 November 2001-Tuesday**

Hermione set to work with the same single-minded determination that Draco had grown accustomed to and the next several days passed in a whirlwind of tense situations and very little sleep.

She'd last encountered Mentarion in Italty, so that is where they began. Apparating to the Italian Ministry, they spent the first day doing research in the Ministry archives, watched over by a very stern-looking elderly wizard who checked everything they touched to make certain that they were looking at only applicable papers.

That led them on a meandering path across the country to interview anyone who may have come into contact with him. The collection of that information led them in Romania, where a day spent at the Ministry had them tracking down a collection of witches and wizards, each seemingly more shady than the last.

It was the morning of the 19th when they found themselves at a decrepit old hut in the middle of nowhere.

Hermione cast a few defensive spells over herself and Draco followed suit. "Are you ready?" she asked him in that gravely serious way to which he was growing accustomed.

He nodded.

"You'd better be," she sighed. "Severus can't afford for either of us to end up in the hospital again."

"I know that, Hermione," Draco growled.

She ignored his tone as she always did and led the way toward the house. The heavy knocker was falling off the door, so she pounded with her fist instead.

"If there wasn't smoke coming from the chimney, I'd swear it was abandoned," Draco noted quietly, his wand in his hand as was hers.

"What do you want?" someone shouted from inside, their translation spells functioning to allow them to hear it in English.

"We're from the British Ministry of Magic, Mr. Vlas," Hermione hollered back, the spell working in reverse to project her voice in Romanian.

"Then go back to Britian and leave me in peace!" the man shouted.

"Mr. Vlas, we are outside our jurisdiction, and, as such, no penalty can be laid against you for anything that you say to us. I'm afraid that I must insist, however, that you speak with us regarding Mentis Mentarion!" she said with evident patience and enough authority that it actually did sound like she was a Ministry employee.

The door opened a crack. "Never heard of him."

Hermione's hand intercepted the door before it could slam shut again. "Lying to me would be a mistake, Mr. Vlas," she warned.

A pair of dark eyes narrowed suspiciously beneath one long, bushy brow. "You're just kids!" he spat. "Get off my property before I hex you!"

Before Draco could even open his mouth, Hermione had drawn her wand and hit the impertinent man with a silent _Petrificus Totalus_. She shoved the door open and stepped past the man rigidly propped against his wall.

"Young, we may be, Mr. Vlas," Hermione said coldly as she looked around the room with open distaste. It was as tiny as it looked from the outside and rather spectacularly filthy. "We are also veterans of war. Discounting our abilities is not wise."

Draco quickly snatched up the man's wand and Hermione released the body bind. This was actually the second time Hermione had resorted to this sort of thing.

Mr. Vlas looked to be stuck somewhere between rage and fear, practically frothing at the mouth, but he said nothing.

"When was the last time you were in any form of contact with Mentis Mentarion?" Hermione questioned calmly, her wand still trained on the filthy, smelly wizard.

"Years ago," he spat fitfully. "Five, at least."

Hermione's eyes were trained on his and they narrowed when he said this. "Have it your way," she growled, and Mr. Vlas fell to his knees, cradling his head and screaming.

Draco grimaced but didn't interrupt as Hermione probed – none too gently – through the man's mind. Luckily, most of those they'd found as former contacts of Mentarion were not the sort to register complaints with any Ministry.

"We're done here," Hermione said a moment later, turning for the door.

Draco dropped the man's wand on the floor and followed her. "Has anyone ever told you that you're quite scary?" he asked conversationally as they stepped outside the man's wards.

"I've heard it before," she allowed.

"So where are we going?" Draco posed with a small smile.

"Home," she said with definite satisfaction. She took his hand and he allowed her to lead their apparation.

* * *

**Okay, we're coming into the final stretch now. It's looking like probably only two chapters left. Fear not, however, I don't plan to leave you hanging. I'm already putting together a sequel, though I may not start putting that out for a few months as I have a couple unrelated ideas gnawing away at me currently.**

**A huge thanks to everyone who continually takes the time to review. As for the rest of you... I'm starting to feel like I'm writing this just for myself. Were that the case, I'd probably set it aside for a while and work on some other things. Yes, there was a veiled threat in there. ;-)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: **I am so sorry about the wait on this one. I was violently attacked by a herd of plot bunnies. Unfortunately, they had absolutely nothing to offer in regard to _this_ story and kept me thoroughly distracted with my new story for two straight days. I finally managed to wrestle myself free of them long enough to get this chapter put together.

This chapter ended up a little long, but there wasn't any good place to break it up and I think it works pretty well on its own.

As to your reviews… You guys really are too kind. Now I feel bad for threatening you. And for making you wait. Thank you all so much for the lovely, lovely reviews. Now… Shall we see if Hermione lets Mentis live?

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

* * *

**Draco - 19 November 2001-Tuesday**

Back at the British Ministry was more of the same, but they had to be getting close now. At least they were in the right country. They dove into the archives with a short list of names that Hermione had picked out of Vlas's head. The work was tedious, particularly with the knowledge that Severus had only five days left. Hermione's quiet determination worked like a balm on Draco's frazzled nerves, allowing him to avoid giving in to his frustration at their slow progress.

Though neither of them really wanted to, they broke for the night around eleven when Hermione determined that they'd likely found as much as they were going to. They made plans to meet back at the Ministry in the morning for their trip to Scotland.

Draco drank a lot of chamomile tea and worked his way through the meditation techniques that he'd learned in rehabilitation, but he didn't sleep more than a couple hours all night. The sleep that he did get was punctuated by nightmares. The new one involved Hermione giving up the search, laughing at his concern for Severus, and basically claiming that she was finally getting revenge on the man who'd made her potions' classes a nightmare for six years.

He woke with the knowledge that he'd come to rely on Hermione a great deal for the way she'd led him in the search to find a way to save Severus. He didn't like being at her mercy. He didn't like it at all. Fortunately, his conscious mind was aware of the fact that she'd die before she gave up.

When the sky outside finally inched toward daylight, he surrendered his attempts at sleep, tried to pay attention to what he was dressing himself in, then forced himself to eat something. His house elves were excellent cooks, but he couldn't taste it. It had been a while since he'd eaten anything that tasted good to him, even while he forced it down to keep his strength up.

After eating, he stopped in the bathroom and cleaned up, going through the familiar routine with very little thought.

Finally, when only about twenty minutes remained before he was supposed to meet Hermione, he apparated to the Ministry. Not surprisingly, he found her already at his desk, slouched in his chair with her feet up on his desk and her nose buried in a stack of parchments.

"Do make yourself at home," he drawled half-heartedly.

She jumped up at the sound of his voice, clearly not because she was at all distressed at being discovered taking such liberties, but because she was as eager as he to get moving. She immediately grabbed her cloak and started for the door that he'd just come in.

Without a word, Draco followed her back up to the atrium and extended his elbow slightly as he'd become accustomed to, spinning as she did and following her into the dark, uncomfortable abyss. He blinked at the severity of the morning sun slanting off freshly fallen snow and turned around to face the little village to which they'd apparated.

Hermione led the way, as she always seemed to, her stride long and determined, her sooty cloak billowing behind her on the biting wind. Draco couldn't help but admit – privately – that she was quite a sight. The slight furrow of her brow and hard set of her jaw was such that he was certain she could stroll down Knockturn Alley without being bothered by so much as a stare.

Their destination was a shabby little house at the edge of the village. Every house they'd visited in this damnable search seemed to be shabby at best. It made Draco disdain Mentarion even more than he had before. He held no love for any form of dark wizard, but he'd been raised among those who at least took a little pride in it – had some self-respect. Somehow these bottom feeding dark wizards were even more deplorable to him.

That probably didn't make any real sense, but there it was.

They went through the familiar procedure of pounding on the door and rousting the deplorable witch within. At least this time they didn't need the translation spells. For some reason, they always gave him a headache. The fact that they – well _he_ – actually had some authority here was both a benefit and a detriment to their goal. It helped that those they questioned were legally compelled to answer. It did not help that their witnesses – disreputable lot that they were – feared them.

They'd placed an anti-disapparation ward around the house before approaching, but the witch inside seemed determined. There was the slamming of a door from the back side of the house and Hermione leapt into a sprint a second before he could. She was faster too. She rounded the side of the house and flicked her wand.

Draco caught her up a moment later, in time to see the stunned old witch collapse into the snow.

Hermione looked positively murderous as she stalked through the snow toward the fallen witch, and Draco hurried to keep up lest she kill their witness before they could get any information.

Hermione bent to snatch up the wand that had fallen from the witch's hand, then lifted her foot to shove the old woman – none too gently – over onto her back. She pointed her wand and ropes snaked out of it, binding the unconscious woman, then finally woke her.

The witch woke, staring at them with wide eyes, then began to struggle madly.

Hermione's foot landed on the woman's chest, pinning her to the ground, and she leaned over her knee. "Stop!" she commanded in a dangerously low voice.

Surprisingly – or perhaps not so surprisingly considering how ominous Hermione looked – the witch stilled.

"I want to know about Mentis Mentarion," Hermione said slowly and clearly. "I care nothing for you or what you've done that has you so frightened of the Ministry that you would flee an Auror. Tell me about the last time that you were in contact with him and we will leave."

The woman seemed to consider it for a moment. Finally, she took a slow breath. "He was here about six months ago," she said, her voice brittle with cold – she hadn't put on a coat before fleeing – and fear more than age. "I knew him when he was a boy. When he comes through town, I let him stay with me. Sometimes a few days. I don't know what he's done. We don't talk about that."

"Look at me," Hermione commanded softly.

Clearly she didn't understand the reasoning behind the request, because she complied.

Hermione seemed to be gentler this time, likely because the woman had cooperated somewhat willingly.

After a couple minutes, Hermione nodded. "Thank you for your assistance," she said in the semblance of cordiality, and she released the ropes. She started walking away while Draco dropped the wand next to the woman, then caught up to her.

He looked at her questioningly and she shook her head. Nothing useful. Damn.

She took his elbow and they disapparated.

They had one more "meeting" for the day. The process was truly beginning to feel redundant as they approached another house, this one slightly more prosperous. They used the same precautions that they always did – Hermione was extremely diligent with her precautions and demanded the same of him. He considered himself reasonably cautious but she was in a whole different league. Not that he was going to complain under the circumstance, but when this was all over he really hoped he didn't have to work with her again soon.

This wizard answered his door, invited them inside, and even offered them tea – which they declined. Even with Bledrun's Last Drink safely locked away in the Department of Mysteries, it would be a long time before Draco accepted a drink from anyone he didn't know extremely well.

The wizard answered Hermione's questions without complaint, stating that he and Mentarion had been schoolmates and yet retained enough cordiality to socialize from time to time. He made it all sound a little too innocent for Draco's liking, but he didn't complain when Hermione told him that she needed to check his mind to validate his statement. Draco knew two things as soon as Hermione emerged from the man's mind. First, he knew that she had corroborated what the man said – she didn't look nearly angry enough for anything else. Second, he knew that they had a new lead.

"That was suspiciously easy," Draco noted once they had left the house.

Hermione nodded her agreement even while her words contradicted him. "He was sincere, and he heard from a friend that Mentarion passed through France a few months ago. We're getting close."

"France?" Draco asked, disgruntled.

She merely nodded and took his elbow.

Draco was really struggling not to feel disheartened as they apparated into the French Ministry of Magic. He'd really thought they were nearly there when they'd received the Scottish names. Leaving Britain again felt like the opposite of progress, even if they were still moving in the right direction.

They cast their translation charms and approached the visitor's desk to have their wands measured.

"Name?" the witch asked as she examined Hermione's wand.

"Hermione Granger."

The witch froze, looked up at Hermione, and blinked a couple times.

Draco should have expected Hermione's fame to precede them, but he found it really annoying sometimes.

"The reason for your visit?" the witch inquired, her tone cautious and overly precise.

"I am consulting on an investigation by the British Ministry of Magic," Hermione spouted impatiently. "Evidence has led us to believe that there may be persons in France with information directly relating to the case." They'd been through this twice before.

"I see," the witch swallowed. "Very well, Professor Granger. Would you like to speak with the Minister?"

Draco couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I don't believe that will be necessary," Hermione said flatly.

It wasn't until Hermione reached for her wand that Draco noticed it. The witch flinched away from her like she thought Hermione was going to attack her with the simple gesture. She wasn't in awe of Hermione, she was _afraid _of her.

He studied Hermione curiously while the witch measured his wand. What had the Minister said about France? He didn't want a repeat of what had happened in France? What had Hermione done?

He waited until they were relatively private within the French archives before finally giving in to his curiosity. "Minister Shacklebolt mentioned something about France before," he noted innocently. "What happened?" he pressed when she didn't look up from the file she was reading.

"I tracked a dark wizard here last summer," she admitted tonelessly, her eyes still darting across the page in her hand.

"But that's what you're doing now. Why would the Minister say that he didn't want a repeat of it?" he baited shamelessly.

"I didn't involve the Ministry last summer," she admitted. "Ours or this one. The dark wizard didn't survive." Not once in that did anything like life enter her voice.

Draco frowned at her thoughtfully. The dark circles under her eyes were really beginning to resemble bags more than circles. Her skin was several shades too pale, her hair looked really dull, and there was a heaviness to her movements. Draco had thought that he was handling this business with Severus poorly, but Hermione seemed considerably worse off.

He knew though, that there was nothing he could do to help her except to put a quick end to this whole ordeal, so he refocused his attention on the file in his hands. If nothing else, he knew beyond a doubt that she cared about Severus. A lot.

Severus had until the morning of the twenty-fourth and they spent the twenty-first hopping around France interrogating French wizards. Discouragingly, that led them not back to Britain as he'd hoped, but to Spain.

It was just after noon on the twenty-third, and Hermione was rifling through the mind of a foolish Spanish wizard who'd made the mistake of lying to her face. Draco was so tired and worried that he didn't even fully register the man's screams. He registered Hermione's though.

"NO!" she screamed furiously as she came out of the whimpering man's mind.

Draco's eyes shot up to follow her cautiously. This was the first time since they'd started working together that he'd seen her lose her temper like this.

She turned back to the wizard on the floor, her eyes on fire, and slashed her wand at him, shouting, "Stupefy!"

Finally, she turned back to the door and stalked out.

"What happened?" he asked warily as he hurried to catch up to her.

"They lied," she growled venomously.

"What?" he asked, alarmed. "Who?"

"Mentarion's little distraction squad. Everyone we've seen since Scotland has had their memory altered to lead us on a false trail," she spat. "We're going back to London." She grabbed his arm and spun.

Draco stumbled a bit as they arrived back in the British Ministry, having not been given time to prepare himself for the apparation. He regained his balance quickly and followed Hermione to the lift. They dove back into the archives with fervor. He still couldn't believe how many days they'd wasted. Severus had less than two days left.

He forced that from his mind and put all of his will into reading the files. Finding the lead that would save his godfather. He had to believe they'd still make it in time.

Despite the distraction, Hermione didn't seem to have any difficulty returning to the point they'd been at before. Draco could only pray that the false trail didn't go back any further than she thought.

"Bloody hell!" he heard Hermione curse sometime in the wee hours of the morning. He started at the sudden sound after so many hours in the silent room.

"What is it?" he asked, instantly alert again as he rushed over to her.

"It was right in front of me the whole bloody time!" she raved, furiously throwing a file onto the floor.

Draco was too intent on what she was saying to care about the mess she was making. "What, Hermione? Did you find something?"

"I know where he is," she growled and turned toward the exit, literally running.

Draco's heart lodged in his throat, making it difficult to breathe, but he dropped his file next to hers and ran after her. This was it. It had to be. Severus still had about six hours. They were going to make it.

The lift wasn't large, but it was fairly empty at four in the morning, and Hermione paced her way across the width a couple dozen times before the door finally opened to the atrium. She set off at a run again and he followed, reaching the apparation area right behind her. He expected the immediate disapparation this time, and was ready for it when she grabbed his arm and spun.

Draco stumbled a bit anyway as they landed on uneven ground. He looked around warily and realized that they were in a cemetery. "Where are we?" he asked warily.

"Right back where this whole bloody mess started!" she snarled, then said nothing more as she started running again.

Draco made an effort to catch his breath, before hurrying after her. They left the cemetery and ran toward a small decrepit port town.

Hermione didn't slow until they reached the outskirts of the town. She immediately stabbed her wand skyward and cast her anti-disapparation ward before she stalked into the street.

Draco struggled to keep up with her and catch his breath at the same time. Hermione quickly cast her protections on herself while they walked and Draco followed suit. She turned left after they'd gone a couple blocks, the right after a few more, almost like she was following a scent.

When they were nearing the edge of her ward, she cast another.

Finally, she came to an abrupt stop and looked up at an old warehouse on a street filled with old warehouses. She put her wand to her throat and shouted, "Mentis Mentarion!" her voice thundering and echoing madly along the street.

Draco hurried to cast distraction and confundus wards around them to protect them from any prying muggle eyes. Those were some of the first things he'd been taught in Auror training as some dark wizards really didn't care about the Statute of Secrecy. Today, it seemed, Hermione didn't either.

"Face me, you coward!" she shouted again.

While her attention was focused on the building, Draco was trying to look everywhere else, wary of witnesses. That was why he saw the curse flying at Hermione's back.

Acting on instinct, he dove on Hermione, driving her to the ground as the curse sailed over their backs.

Hermione rolled out from under him with the agility of a hunting cat, a curse flying from her wand before she was even fully upright.

Draco lurched to his feet and quickly joined the fight as the wizard they'd been hunting had finally shown himself. He was good. Really good. Hermione's quick nonverbals and lightning deflections rather shamed his own but even she would not have been able to keep up on her own.

Mentarion, looking like nothing so much as an elderly madman, actually cackled through the ferocious battle.

Their cause was not helped by the fact that both he and Hermione were pulling their punches, attacking with nonlethal spells as this was all for nothing more than revenge if they killed him.

Everything around Draco faded into a haze of unimportance for how focused he was upon their battle. Both he and Hermione were running almost constantly, ducking and rolling and briefly hiding to stay alive through the furious assault. He heard Hermione scream as she was hit, but she didn't go down.

Finally, _finally _one of Hermione's stunners got through. Mentarion didn't immediately go down, but he was staggered enough that he wasn't able to block the stunner that Draco threw at him or the second one from Hermione.

They rushed him as there was no way to be certain how long he would stay down. Hermione snatched up his wand and Draco quickly bound the man's wrists in the enchanted shackles that would restrain him from using any wandless magic. For good measure, he used Relashio to bind him in ropes from neck to toes.

At last convinced that the dangerous prisoner was secure, Draco looked at Hermione and found her turning to look at him. She looked a sight, her robes torn and soiled from the filthy ground, she was bleeding from several places on her face and probably other places too. The only wound he could see that looked serious was on her right shoulder, but if it hurt her, she didn't show it. He didn't imagine that he looked much better as he could feel many stinging cuts and scrapes all over his body.

"Keep your wand on him," she instructed Draco. "Just in case."

Draco nodded and moved around to the opposite side of the man so that it would be more difficult for him to watch them both at once.

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 24 November 2001-Saturday**

"_Rennervate_," Hermione growled, keeping her wand trained on the man as he woke up. Cold gray eyes studied her for a moment, then turned to Draco. Then his lips pulled into a smile and he started cackling again.

"Tell me about Bledrun's Last Drink," Hermione demanded, needing no effort to make her voice as cold and hard as it had ever been.

He continued to laugh.

"Is there a cure?" she growled.

The cackling went on without an end in sight.

She glanced at Draco and he nodded.

The man wasn't trying to avoid eye contact, so she had no difficulty plunging herself into his mind. Until she hit a steel wall.

As frustrated as she had ever been, she withdrew to more of his cackling, then tried again, using her stronger version this time. She slammed into his wall and searched for a weakness but his Occlumency was comparable to Severus' but without the crack.

She drew herself out again and stared at him for a long moment, her mind far away in London with a dying man. "I have to soften his shields, Draco, or I'll never get in," she said quietly, glancing up at the blond man.

Draco stared at her hard, neither endorsing nor rejecting her proposition. That was as much invitation as she needed.

She pointed her wand at the incapacitated mad man on the ground and growled, "_Crucio_!" She had never in her life wanted so badly to cause someone pain, and the spell hit him potently. She had the satisfaction of ending his infernal cackling as he tensed beneath the pain. After about ten seconds, a low groan escaped his lips and in another fifteen he succumbed to the pain, screaming in agony.

Hermione did not relent. She knew this spell. She'd felt it. She knew how far she could push before his mind was in danger of breaking. Her will did not falter as his screams began to grow hoarse.

Draco still had his eyes and his wand on the man but the wand was trembling by the time she released the curse.

She flicked her wand and forced him to look at her again, diving immediately back into his mind. The shield was definitely shaky, but it held.

Growling, she withdrew again. "_Crucio_!"

So attuned was her mind to Severus' failing health that she could practically feel each wasted minute that passed, and this madman wasn't going to give up without one hell of a fight.

Six times, she repeated the _Crucio-Legilimens_ combination before she was finally able to pierce his shield.

She dove into his thoughts and memories and tore through them with abandon, utterly unconcerned if his already questionable sanity survived the process, numb to his agony.

With each passing second, her fear grew. Could he be Occluding her still? There was a subtle way to go about it. It was much more difficult, but it was possible to show false memories or hide certain ones away if you were good enough. That was how Severus had hidden his true allegiance from Voldemort for so many years.

She withdrew from his mind and hit him with another _Crucio_. The seconds ticked by like hours as she waited for the pain to do its work on his mind. When she at last felt certain that he was hanging onto what sanity he'd had to begin with by a bare thread, she released the curse and dove back into his mind.

She ripped her way viciously through his mind once more, starting in the most likely areas and then continuing on until she'd plundered his entire childhood.

She screamed in wordless fury as she at last drew away. She screamed until her throat was raw. Severus was going to die. There was no cure and he had only hours left. It was over.

She had failed.

Rage flooded the hole left by defeat and she spun on Mentarion again, ready to end his wretched life.

And Draco was there. His hand closing over her wand hand, stilling it. "Hermione!" he shouted right in her face.

She managed to tear her eyes away from the weeping, defeated man to focus on Draco.

"Do you want to spend the next few hours at the Ministry explaining why you killed him, or do you want to spend them with Severus?" he demanded.

Her stomach fell right out through her feet as she realized that he was right. There was nothing more that she could do. Revenge could wait, but she would find a way to end him even in Azkaban. She was quite handy with poisons.

She took a step away from Draco, stared at him a moment longer, then disapparated.

Appearing in St. Mungo's she started directly for Severus' room. A mediwitch rushed to her side as if thinking that Hermione had been hurt. Hermione hit her with a glare and the woman withered. She turned her focus back where it belonged, striding into Severus' room and closing the door gently behind her.

She stared at his still form for a long moment before approaching his bed. Reality was crashing down around her now that there was nothing left to do but wait for him to die. She sank down into a chair, finally surrendering to the tears that she'd held at bay since this had begun. It was time to start grieving.

She didn't know how long she had been weeping over Severus when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head slightly to see Draco at her side. She could see the pain in his eyes as he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug.

She pulled away after a long moment, returning her full attention to Severus. "I'm going to say goodbye," she whispered.

Gathering what little composure she had left, she placed one hand on Severus' head and wrapped his hand in her other. "_Legilimens penetros_," she barely whispered.

She found Severus sitting on his bed almost exactly where she'd left him.

"You're back," he said uncertainly.

"It has been weeks, Severus," she whispered.

His eyes widened. "Weeks. Then this is the end."

And she lost all semblance of control. Sobs took control of her body and anguish, her mind. Her knees hit the floor.

After an innumerable amount of time, she began to regain her sense. She realized that, while she was losing herself in her grief, she was wasting her last hours with Severus. That was sobering enough to still her tears.

She realized that he was on the floor next to her now, his larger body wrapped protectively, lovingly around her.

She turned in his arms so that she could wrap her arms around his waist, and bury her face in his chest.

"Shh, love, shhh," Severus murmured over and over again as he ran his hand over her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Shhh."

Hermione drew back far enough to see his face, trying to memorize everything about him. She hated herself bitterly for every second she'd wasted without him. She hated herself for chasing after Mentarion instead of staying in the hospital and searching for a solution medically. She hated herself and she didn't think that she'd ever stop hating herself.

"You can't die, Severus," she said weakly, running her hands repeatedly through his silky hair. "You can't die. I'm in love with you. You can't die now."

His eyes glistened with tears as he took her face in his hands and kissed her gently. When he pulled back, there were tears on his cheeks as well. "Then I am the luckiest man that has ever lived," he whispered and she choked on a sob. "Hermione, no," he said gently, drawing her face back up until her eyes returned to his. "My life was nothing before you," he told her severely. "You've given me what I never thought I would have. You've given me love and happiness as I never dreamed."

She buried her face in his neck, clinging to him as tightly as she could as though she could physically hold him from death.

"I love you, Hermione," he whispered, one hand stroking her hair while the other ran continuously over her back. "I love you so very much."

"I love you, Severus," she sobbed softly.

She felt him sway and drew back in alarm. The room around them grew hazy and she gasped in fear. Was this it? Was he dying right now?

She threw herself on him again, clinging harder and weeping against his neck.

"Hermione," she heard him struggle to say, trying to push her away. "You have to leave, Hermione. I don't know… I don't know what will happen if you're here when… When…"

"I will not leave you!" she all but shouted, refusing his feeble attempts to dislodge her.

The room faded into utter blackness and she pinched her eyes shut, refusing to watch. Severus was still solid in her arms. That was all that mattered.

She felt her mind begin to grow hazy as well and she wondered if she was losing her hold on him or if she was dying too. She hoped furiously that it was the latter. The thought of opening her eyes to his corpse was too painful to even contemplate and she felt that it would kill her as surely as Avada Kedavra.

She held on with all her might. As her thoughts slurred and slipped away from her, only one remained strong. She would not let go. She would never let go.

/\*/\*/\

**Draco - 24 November 2001-Saturday**

When Hermione entered Severus' mind, Draco moved to the other side of the bed and drew a chair. He sat and clenched his godfather's hand in his own.

He didn't care that he'd just apprehended a high priority target or that Robards had suggested there may soon be a medal for him. He didn't even care that he might lose his job and end up in Azkaban when they examined the prisoner and discovered the rather obvious evidence of the Cruciatus curse's extensive use.

Right now, at this moment, all he cared about was the man in front of him. And, surprisingly, the witch on the other side of him with tears silently streaming down her face.

He hadn't understood, not fully, that Hermione truly loved Severus until she'd failed to find what they needed in Mentarion's mind. Her reaction then… When Voldemort had made Malfoy Manor his headquarters, Draco had seen more deplorable, depraved acts of barbarism than he'd ever before imagined there could be. He'd watched women scream while Voldemort tortured and murdered their husbands.

_That _was the agony he'd seen in Hermione's eyes when she'd realized that she couldn't save Severus. When he'd stopped her from killing Mentarion – he didn't doubt it had been the killing curse on her tongue – he'd watched the life drain out of her eyes. When he'd found her here, sobbing, it had been the same. He really wasn't sure if there would ever be life in her eyes again. He knew that she wasn't the first woman to lose the man she loved, but Hermione was… Well, he didn't think that she was the kind of woman to love easily. He wasn't at all sure what losing that love would do to her.

The last hour of Severus' life ticked by amid mind-numbing grief as Draco waited for the inevitable. Hermione did not move in all that time.

At last, he felt the stasis spell flicker and die around Severus. Draco felt empty, the hole in his chest gaping larger with each increasingly shallow breath that passed through his godfather.

When his chest finally stilled, Draco finally began to cry in earnest. For once in his life, he didn't care who saw.

The bed moved slightly and Draco looked up, expecting that Hermione was back. Instead, he realized that she'd slumped over the bed. He got up warily and walked around the bed, expecting that she was simply collapsed in grief, but his apprehension grew with each step. Her chest wasn't moving either.

Draco rushed to close the last couple steps between them and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back. She was completely limp and entirely vacant.

_NO!_ His mind screamed in denial. _No, no, no, no-no-no-no-no!_ "Help!" he screamed, running to the door and wrenching it open. "HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

A mediwitch rushed toward him, alarm in her wide eyes.

"It's Hermione!" he explained quickly. "She's not breathing! I don't know what happened!"

The witch rushed past him to Hermione's side where the younger witch had been left slumped in her chair after Draco had released her.

Draco waited what seemed at least two years but was probably only half a minute before the witch spoke again.

"She's okay," she assured him. "Her breathing is a bit shallow, but it's getting stronger."

Draco sagged in relief and sunk back into his chair, burying his face in his hands. He took a couple minutes to calm down before he looked up again. His eyes didn't want to focus on Severus. He knew that his godfather was gone now. Looking at the body wasn't going to bring him back.

But… Unexpected movement drew his hesitant eyes and it took him a long moment to be sure that he was really seeing it. Severus was breathing!

Draco lurched out of his chair again. "He's…! He's alive!"

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 24 November 2001-Saturday**

The world returned to focus with deplorable hesitancy. Hermione cracked her eyes open and pain stabbed through her head. She groaned quietly and pressed her hands to her head.

She felt something touch her lips and started but was too disoriented to pull away before the potion flowed into her mouth. She swallowed reflexively as it hit the back of her throat and panicked briefly before recognizing the flavor. Headache draught. If they were easing her pain, it seemed unlikely that anyone was trying to kill her.

With that comforting thought, she relented and allowed the medicine a couple minutes to do its job. When she opened her eyes again, it didn't hurt as much.

Her eyes focused slowly on Draco as he was leaning over her. It took her a few minutes to remember what had happened, and then she felt a sharp pain lance through her chest. Severus was gone. And it seemed that she had survived. She wanted to yell at Draco for not letting her die, but she couldn't summon the gumption. Instead, she just closed her eyes again.

"Hermione," Draco said softly. When she didn't answer, he spoke again, "Hermione, he's alive."

It took a long moment for his words to make sense. When they did, she opened her eyes and looked at him again. "Who?" she asked warily.

"Severus."

Her mind instantly rebelled. She had watched him die – _felt _him die. It wasn't possible that he could be alive. But Draco was smiling. He wouldn't be smiling unless…

Hope bloomed in her heart though if it was dashed now, she didn't think she'd survive. "How?" she barely breathed.

"There's a man here who can explain it," he offered, turning away from her.

She turned her head to follow his movement and that was when she saw him. Lying in the next bed. Severus. She stared at him, unable to move. Unable to think. He was lying still but for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He was alive.

Every movement sent aching tremors through her weak muscles, but she ignored the pain, forcing herself to move. She pushed the covers back and would have fallen if Draco hadn't rushed to her side to support her when she tried to stand. He seemed to know what she needed as he guided her to the other bed.

The beds weren't really made for more than one, but he helped Hermione into the bed next to Severus anyway, tucking the blankets around her. She snuggled herself into his side, rested her head on his chest, and just breathed him in. He was alive.

When she felt an arm wind its way around her back she started and looked up into Severus' eyes.

She sobbed softly, holding his gaze as though her life depended on it. His other hand rose and he brushed the backs of his fingers lightly over her cheekbone, brushing away the tears that were falling. She wasn't sure if she was crying because she was so happy or if it was just because she was so overwhelmed. She didn't care.

"Shhh," he murmured quietly, wiping away more tears. "It's okay now, love. I'm not going anywhere."

Hermione pulled herself up further in the bed so that she could bury her face in his hair, her cheek against his, and both his arms curled around her.

"Professor Granger? Professor Snape?" said an unfamiliar voice, finally drawing Hermione out of her euphoric daze.

She rolled onto her side, tucking herself back beneath Severus' arm as she turned to regard the speaker.

The man looked at least a hundred and twenty with thick glasses and a maze of laugh lines etched across his white-bearded face. He smiled kindly at her.

Draco appeared again. "This is Healer Bogmoore," he explained.

The old man chuckled, "Oh, it's Alden, please. I'm too old for such formality."

Draco smiled, "He's the leading expert on your particular situation, so I'll let him explain how you're both alive."

Hermione focused on Alden curiously, though all she really wanted to know was that Severus would make a full recovery and live a long life with her.

"Well, yes, I suppose I am as close to an expert as there is," the healer allowed. "Honestly, though your condition is so rare that it would take several lifetimes to even begin to document it."

"Condition?" Severus asked with that quiet intensity that she loved so much.

"It's called Amorus Vita," Alden explained. "It's…" he seemed to struggle with the wording for a moment. "Please don't confuse this with soul mate, for that is a very different thing. Soul mates, if you want to use the imprecise term, are what you were before, as it is believed that only soul mates are capable of becoming Amorus Vita. This is a mating of the souls."

Hermione glanced up at Severus. While his face remained outwardly neutral, she saw the confusion swimming in his eyes. Good. She wasn't the only one feeling lost.

"What exactly does that mean?" she inquired.

"In the simplest of terms," Alden shrugged, "it means that, at the moment of his death, your very soul reached out to him, and two became one."

_That _was the simplest of terms?

He seemed to notice that he hadn't explained well enough and continued. "Your lives are now bound to each other. Your souls cannot be separated in life or in death."

"But how did that keep him alive when he was cursed?" she pressed.

"No one really knows," he smiled amicably.

"Exactly how rare is this?" Severus posed.

"Well, I am one hundred thirty two," Alden offered, "and to my knowledge, this is only the second time this has occurred in my lifetime."

Hermione exchanged another look with Severus and his arms tightened around her. "Who was the other?" Hermione wondered.

"My son," Alden explained, "which is when I began studying it."

"What does this mean for our future?" Hermione wondered.

"It means that you will live together and you will die together," Alden explained, still smiling. "One of your lives was lost. Only one remains, now bound irrevocably to both of you. If either of you dies, the other will as well."

It may not have been the most rational reaction, but Hermione sighed deeply in relief. It was an unbelievable comfort to know that she would never go through this again. She would never again face the possibility of living without him. His arms tightened again and she leaned her head into his chest, savoring the knowledge that he was alive and here and evidently as healthy as she was.

She looked up at him and pressed her palm gently against his cheek. "I love you, Severus Snape," she said quietly.

A small smile curled his lips. "And I love you, Hermione Granger."

* * *

**Okay, he's alive! Phwew! For those of you who are still trying to recover from the fear that they were both going to die, I've got an epilogue coming up. It'll be mostly fluffy goodness and resolution with a little build-up to the eventual sequel.**


	19. Epilogue

**Author's Note: **All right folks, the final installment to this story…

****Disclaimer:** I am not the author of Harry Potter and own no rights to characters or universe. The plot however, is mine alone**.****

* * *

**Severus - 25 November 20001-Sunday**

Severus held Hermione beneath his arm in their bed while they ate their breakfast. With any luck, the blasted mediwitch would declare them fit to leave today. Severus had spent enough time in that hospital to last him a lifetime – even if he had slept through most of it.

Even the hospital food couldn't truly bother him today though. For the second time in his life, he'd faced certain death and somehow lived to see another day. And both times it was the amazing little witch that shared the bed with him who had been the one to make it possible. She'd saved him from bleeding out from Nagini's bite. Then she'd restored him from the resulting coma. She'd protected him from assassination in the days to follow the final battle and again when she'd been Impuriused to deliver the blow herself. She'd saved him when he'd inadvertently poisoned himself in his lab. And now she'd saved him from an incurable curse.

He'd never really believed in God or fate, but if he had somehow earned her love through his years as a recluse and spy… Well, every second was worth it.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" said witch questioned lightly.

He smiled down at her. "You. My… What is the muggle term? Knight in some kind of armor?"

"Shining armor, love," she laughed.

"That," he smiled, leaning down to brush his lips against her hair.

A knock on the door drew his attention. "Enter," he called.

The door was opened slowly and Harry Potter's disheveled head poked in. His eyes widened when he saw them together in the broad bed. "Um," he managed, clearing his throat quietly. "Just a moment."

He ducked back out, closing the door behind him.

"I wonder what that was about," Hermione said with a frown in her voice.

Severus tightened his arm around her, biting off the few choice words that he had to say about Harry bloody Potter acting like a bloody idiot just because they were sharing a hospital bed. He assumed that it would only make her feel worse if he voiced those thoughts. Instead, he settled for stroking her arm gently.

After about a minute, a voice rang out in the hallway and Hermione jumped.

"SNAPE!? You've got to be fucking yanking me!"

"Keep your bloody voice down, Ron!" Potter's voice came back, only slightly quieter.

Severus glared murder at the door.

Surprisingly, Hermione laughed. "He was always going to take that badly," she explained when he looked at her.

"One would think he could simply be happy to know that his friend is alive and happy," Severus growled softly.

She leaned into him a little more firmly, "He will be. Eventually," she assured him.

Raised voices could be heard outside for a little longer but not quite loud enough for Severus to make out the words.

A few seconds after it quieted, the door opened and Potter – Harry, he corrected himself sternly – stepped in alone. "Ron's going to go home and think for a while," Harry explained with a small smile for Hermione, though he glanced at Severus, sharing it between them, which was surprising. Evidently Severus wasn't the only one intent on playing nice for Hermione's sake.

Harry approached the bed a bit uncertainly, but when Severus said nothing and refrained from glaring, Harry seemed to relax a bit. "I brought a get-well gift," he admitted, drawing a haphazardly wrapped package from a wide pocket in his robe. It looked like it was probably a book. "For both of you," he clarified as Hermione accepted it.

"Thanks, Harry," she smiled, "but you really didn't need to."

"I wanted to," he shrugged, watching Hermione's hands as she unwrapped it.

Severus wasn't paying much attention to the gift until he felt Hermione go still at his side. He leaned forward a bit to look over her shoulder and saw that she was holding a leather-bound book, worn with age. Gold lettering still twinkled on the cover, reading _Amorus Vita_. He smiled slightly.

"Harry," Hermione breathed. "Where did you find this?"

Harry shrugged in a self-deprecating way that got under Severus' skin. Or maybe, he was willing to allow, the boy was just uncomfortable.

"I had to call in a favor," he admitted.

"From whom?" Hermione asked.

"Kingsley," Harry confessed with a small smile.

"Get over here so I can hug you!" Hermione demanded in that bossy way that Severus loved so much.

Harry obeyed, but he eyed Severus a little uncertainly over her should as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you, Harry," Severus offered, watching the boy's eyes widen at the sound of his given name. "It was a very thoughtful gift." He hadn't thought the boy had it in him, but he figured that part could be left unsaid.

"You're welcome, sir," Harry responded as he disentangled himself from Hermione.

"You may call me Severus," he allowed, withholding his wince.

Harry nodded, still a bit wide-eyed.

"I'd invite you to join us for breakfast," Hermione said, diffusing the building tension with the ease in her voice, "but I really don't think you want any of this," she smirked.

"Thanks," Harry smiled, "but I really do have to go. Robards has me working today. Do you know when you're getting out?"

"Today, if there is any justice in the world," Severus grouched.

Hermione smiled fondly at him before turning back to Harry. "Well, at least tell me how Ginny's doing," she demanded. "I feel so bad I haven't asked you that in weeks."

"You've had a lot on your mind," Harry said, immediately dismissing her guilt. "She's been great. Not even showing yet – though she claims that she is – and she's already eating twice as much as me."

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione chastised.

Harry laughed and dodged the crust of bread that she threw at him. "Easy now, 'Mione!" he complained through his laugh, "I'm already dealing with as much estrogen as any man can handle without losing his sanity."

Hermione drew her wand and Harry wisely ran for the door. "Owl me and I'll stop by for tea when you're up for it!" he called quickly on his way out.

Hermione laughed after her retreating friend and Severus realized that it might not be so hard to get along with Harry Potter after all. Seeing him interacting with Hermione and their easy banter… He clearly made Hermione happy, and that was all that really mattered to Severus anymore.

The door opened again a moment later and another head poked in, this one blond.

"Is it safe?" Draco asked warily. "Potter looked like he was running for his life."

"Harry," Hermione admonished, but there was no heat to it.

Severus still hadn't gotten the whole story as to how these two had become something that very much resembled friends while he'd been sleeping.

Draco rolled his eyes as he let himself in. Severus would have called him down for it if he'd thought it bothered Hermione, but she seemed happy to see his godson.

"Draco, I was getting worried about you. I can't believe I didn't think to ask you yesterday, but did you get into any trouble for Mentarion?" she asked with concern.

"Mentarion is the dark wizard who was using the goblet?" Severus checked.

Hermione nodded quickly, waiting for Draco's answer.

"No, I didn't get into trouble," Draco assured her, "and neither did you, by the way. You can thank your friend Kingsley for that. He convinced the healers that it was a preexisting condition."

Hermione sighed heavily in relief. "God bless that man."

"Exactly what was a preexisting condition, Draco?" Sever questioned curiously.

Draco grimaced and looked at his shoes. Hermione tensed.

"I think it's time the two of you explained to me what happened," he said quietly.

Draco looked up at Hermione, clearly waiting to follow her lead.

Hermione swallowed hard. "You need to understand, Severus," she said quietly, turning to look into his eyes, "when we found him, you had only hours left. We thought that your only chance was to find a cure in his mind…"

"So you used Legilimency," Severus surmised, wondering if she'd destroyed the man's mind.

"Yes," she said quietly, "but his Occluding shields were too strong. I couldn't get in."

Severus frowned curiously, waiting for her to continue.

"I had to weaken his shields," she continued quietly, her eyes falling to where her fingers pulled at a loose string at the hem of the blanket. "There is only one way that I know to do that in the time we had."

It was only with an effort that Severus prevented his jaw from falling, but he was sure that his eyes widened when he understood. Voldemort had subjected him to that particular treatment rather frequently.

Her eyes rose hesitantly to him, searching his face for his reaction.

"If she hadn't done it, I would have," Draco admitted quietly.

Severus looked at his godson in surprise. After all that Draco had endured during his brief stint as a Death Eater, he'd developed a particularly strong aversion to dark magic.

"You were dying, Severus," Draco said quietly in his own defense.

Severus sighed heavily, wondering exactly how much his life had cost the two that he loved most in the world. "If either of you had been cursed, I'd almost certainly have done the same thing," he admitted, "though I doubt that that wizard would be alive today."

Hermione grimaced guiltily and he raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I almost killed him," she admitted. "Draco stopped me."

Severus pulled her into an embrace. "Thank you, Draco," he said quietly over her shoulder.

Draco nodded just slightly. "I had to."

"Maybe you two should tell me the whole story," Severus suggested.

Draco began the story with Severus' reaction to drinking from the goblet and Hermione pitched in with everything she'd done to try to save him during that first week. Severus wasn't a healer, but it sounded amazingly thorough to him. So thorough, in fact, that he doubted she'd had much time to sleep that week.

As she went on to explain how she'd switched her focus to searching for Mentarion, Draco pitched in from time to time to offer details but it seemed clear to Severus has it had been her investigation, whatever it looked like in the official record. That didn't really surprise him either. Despite the confident persona that Lucius had molded into Draco, Severus knew that his godson tended to follow by nature. He also knew how stubborn and bossy Hermione could be - one of her many endearing qualities.

"You saved him?" Severus asked Hermione quietly after Draco had explained the trap they'd encountered and what had come of that.

"I didn't know if a shield would save me or not. We'd clearly tripped a malign ward, and those are tricky to defend against at best. I was too far away to have a hope of avoiding it, but Draco was right at the door. I knew that I could save him," she explained quietly, offering Draco a small smile.

"A shield probably wouldn't have worked," Severus confirmed, then looked to Draco, "So you brought her here?"

Draco nodded. "She was out for three days, but not in any real danger. When she woke, she had us both back at the Ministry in about five minutes," he smiled fondly at Hermione.

They continued to tell the tale of how they'd tracked Mentarion across Europe and he could hear the frustration in her voice when she explained how she'd been fooled by memory charms and they'd wasted days going in the wrong direction.

Severus stroked her arm softly, hoping to provide some small comfort to her, as she continued.

"I finally realized where Mentarion was when it was almost too late," she almost whispered.

"How _did_ you figure that out?" Draco asked curiously, having claimed a chair by the bed a while ago.

"I found a report of a recent incident in that town," Hermione admitted. "Twelve dead muggles. The Ministry had covered it up quite well. The muggle news had reported it as a tragic fire, but the Ministry suspected Fiendfyre was responsible. When I saw that, it all just clicked into place for me. All those arithmantic formulas I'd run... They suddenly made sense when I shifted the source point."

Severus kissed the top of her head lightly, enjoying the reminder of just how brilliant she truly was.

"But how'd you find him once we got into the town?" Draco pressed. "You seemed to know exactly where to go."

"A locator spell," she admitted. "One of my own design. It's not easy to use because you have to know a great deal about your target to get a fix, but after examining so many memories of Mentarion, I probably knew him better than anyone. It was enough to lead me. Next time, however, I won't make the mistake of deactivating it before the target is actually in sight," she shook her head disdainfully, "I should have known that he was behind us."

Severus lifted a curious eyebrow.

"He attacked from behind before we knew he was there," Hermione explained. "If Draco hadn't knocked me down… Well, my shield has failed against that vile spell before."

"So that was what that spell was?" Draco inquired. "_Accendis Caro_?"

She nodded.

"So you repaid your life debt," Severus reasoned.

Draco nodded, "I suppose I did. Not that I'll ever stop owing her after how many times she's saved _your _life."

Severus smiled and looked at Hermione, "Yes, she does have a bit of a habit for that."

Hermione laughed quietly, "Please don't ever make me do it again. It's terribly stressful."

/\*/\*/\

**Hermione - 25 December 2001-Tuesday**

Hermione sent the dishes to the kitchen where they began washing themselves after her private Christmas breakfast with Severus in her rooms at Hogwarts. For weeks after getting back from the hospital, they'd argued about which of their rooms they'd share from now on, as they never spent a night apart. The argument had finally been settled by the castle when they'd woken one morning to find that her rooms had expanded to accommodate two. Severus had insisted that they spend the next night in his quarters to see if the same would happen. It hadn't. He'd finally relented, though of course he retained his own rooms. It wouldn't be proper for two unmarried professors to share rooms in a school on a permanent basis.

They hadn't had to worry about announcing their relationship as it turned out. The Daily Prophet had done a three page exposé about their experience and the Amorus Vita, much to Severus' annoyance and her amusement. Her students didn't seem to know what to think about the development, but Miss Prince, her seventh year Slytherin had become considerably warmer toward her since the article ran. She was a distant cousin of Severus and a huge fan of his, it turned out.

Severus returned from the dungeons, passing through her wards without pause. That had been an interesting discovery that she would certainly add to the book she intended to write about the Amorus Vita. However their souls has mated or meshed or whatever it was, it was now impossible for either of them to erect wards that would admit one of them and not both.

Severus bent to kiss her lightly before sitting in the chair closest to her and placing a small rectangular box on the table in front of her.

She smiled when she saw the gift.

"I was going to save this for last," he admitted, "but I've found that I can't wait. Please open it."

She studied him warily, then opened the box. Nestled into the middle of the box was a smaller box. A polished wooden box that could only be…

She lifted it out warily, her hands trembling as she tipped open the lid. Her breath caught and her eyes widened when she saw the dainty platinum ring adorned with a single, modestly sized diamond. It was a long moment before she could tear her gaze away and she did so to find that Severus had moved and was now kneeling on one knee in front of her.

"This is how it's done, correct?" he asked nervously.

She nodded mutely.

He took one of her hands between his while she held the box with the other. "I tried to think of something impressive to say about my love for you," he admitted, "but I think I covered everything when I believed I was about to die."

She smiled but couldn't quite reach a laugh. She was still too stunned.

"Hermione, will you be my wife?" he asked with utmost sincerity.

The laugh finally came, bubbling up her throat breathlessly. "Of course, Severus!" she gushed.

He smiled triumphantly and took the ring box from her hand, removing the ring. "It's a bit modest," he admitted softly as he slid it onto her proffered finger. "It was my mother's, but if you don't like it, we could always transfigure it-"

"Severus, it's absolutely perfect!" she snapped before he could make any more suggestions about ruining her ring.

Smiling brilliantly, Severus rose to his feet, gathering her in his arms and pulling her up with him.

She wrapped her hands around his waist and snuggled into his chest. After a long moment, a thought struck her and she stiffened.

Severus drew away from her to study her face with concern, "What is it, my love?"

Hermione could literally feel the blood draining from her face. She swallowed hard and her voice came out an octave higher than it should, "I've just realized… I've got to tell my parents."

* * *

**Well, that'll do it. My first complete fanfic (that wasn't complete before I started posting, anyway). Please let me know what you thought, and if you were satisfied with the ending. Honestly, I find it very easy to write the first half of a story. The second half is the part that gives me trouble.**

**As I mentioned before, there will be a sequel to this one, which I expect to be more romance and less bite-your-nails-to-the-quick, cry-in-your-pillow suspense and angst, but hey, it's still in the early stages of plotting. You never know. I'm currently working on an unrelated SSHG, so that'll likely come first. I've titled it "When a Phoenix Cries" if anyone's interested. I'll probably start posting it in 2-4 weeks depending on how my plot bunnies behave.**

**Once again, thank you all for the support and interest you've expressed throughout this story. I have to go soak my aching hands in some Aspercreme now.**


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